


Code Azur: Lelouch of the Fleet

by META2012



Category: Code Geass, 碧蓝航线 | Azur Lane (Video Game)
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:47:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 54,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25750822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/META2012/pseuds/META2012
Summary: Waking up up a deserted island and later picked up by the kansen of the Royal Navy. Lelouch Lamperouge finds himself on another earth, one that's being invaded by a mysterious sea-based foe know as the sirens.A whole new game has been set before him, one that plays by its own rules. Luckily for Lelouch, he too plays by his own rules. And a game against a powerful opponent like the sirens. How could he resist?
Comments: 198
Kudos: 170





	1. rebirth

“I've got something” Ark suddenly said over the comms, alerting the entire group.  
  
“What is it Ark,” Hood asked.  
  
The two were currently on a simple escort mission, escorting surplus back to Britain. With them were the battleship Prince of Wales, the heavy cruisers Suffolk and Norfolk, the light cruiser Hermione, and the destroyers Achates, Antelope, Anthony, Echo, Electra, and Icarus.  
  
“One of my recon planes just spotted some smoke coming from a nearby island” Ark replied, “There might be someone on the island”.  
  
A shipwreck survivor, that was surprising. There hadn't been many reports of Siren attacks out here, and never against civilian ships. Must have been from an unlucky ship that sank due to a mechanical failure or something.  
  
“Copy that Ark,” Hood said “Did you get that commander?” she asked.  
  
“Yes I did” The commander of the Azur Lane, Grant Kline, replied “Hood, Norfolk, move in to investigate the smoke and look for survivors” he ordered “If there are any, I want you to recover them and bring them back to my ship to recover. But be quick, I don't want to be late because of this” he said harshly.  
  
Grant had come along with the convoy as he had to attend an important meeting in Britain and was currently residing inside his command ship, the USS Calypso.  
  
“Copy that sir” Hood complied before she activated her rigging. Her ship started to shine blue before it turned into a massive swarm of blue cubes. The cube then formed around Hood, transforming into her rigging “Now then, let us be off” She said before she broke formation and followed one of Ark's recon planes towards the island.  
  
Norfolk soon joined Hood “Uh... Hood” she said skittishly.  
  
“Yes, Norfolk,” Hood said with a friendly smile.  
  
“Your sure this is a good idea,” Norfolk asked, “What if this is a siren trap”.  
  
“If it was a siren trap, then it's a very bad trap” Ark replied over the radio “There's nowhere for a siren fleet to hide. It's just a single island in the middle of nowhere” she explained, “We're perfectly safe from siren attacks”.  
  
“See, perfectly safe” Hood reassured.  
  
“I hope your right” Norfolk said as the island came into view.  
  
The island was a medium-sized one, covered in trees which offered a great deal of shade and cover. There was also a small fire just on the edge of the tree line, but there was no sign of anyone on the island.  
  
“Ur, Ark. I don't see anyone” Hood said, straining her eyes as she looked at the island.  
  
“I only got a glimpse of someone whilst the plane was flying over” Ark replied “But there's definitely someone there. I bet my Destroyer magazines on it”.  
  
Hood sighed “Alright if you insist,” she said as they approached the island.  
  
They soon reached the island and walked ashore, keeping their riggings on just in case. There was definitely signs of someone living on the island. There was a fish cooking over a fire. A several small pit-traps littered the ground, and a hammock was hanging in-between two trees.  
  
“Well, looks like someone's been living here” Hood observed as they walked up the beach towards the tree line.  
  
“You think they're alright?” Norfolk asked.  
  
The sudden sound of footsteps rapidly approaching alerted them. They quickly pointed their rigging's weapons in the directing the noise was coming from, just on the off chance it was hostile.  
  
They kept their eyes glued in the general direction the footsteps were coming from, waiting patiently.  
  
Suddenly a young man smashed his way through the bushes, only to collapse onto the ground moments later, panting heavily.  
  
Hood and Norfolk quickly rushed over to him “Are you ok” Hood asked as she crouched down beside him.  
  
“Yeah, I'm fine” the young man replied as he caught his breath “It's just... running.. not my strong suit” he panted.  
  
Hood nodded as she looked him over. He was young, probably 18 or 19, and was garbed in what looked like a ruined and blood stained Royal Navy uniform. Probably a captain if the rank insignia on his left arm was to be believed. He was definitely British, he had the accent. His raven hair was a complete mess, and his face looked like it was in desperate need of a shave. His eyes were a deep purple, they were a bit like Enterprises in a way.  
  
“Do you have a name?” Hood asked sounding rather concerned “Are there any other survivors?”.  
  
“No, it's just me,” the young man said “The names Lelouch, Lelouch Lamperouge” he replied before he looked up at Hood. He then started laughing for some strange reasons. Moments later he collapsed onto the sand, showing very little sign of movement.  
  
“Is-is he dead” Norfolk asked skittishly.  
  
Hood put a hand against his neck and check for his pulse “No, he's still breathing” she replied calmly “Must have fainted. Now what brought that on?” she wondered before she picked him up off the ground “Come along Norfolk, we need to get him back to the command ship”.  
  
“Should I deactivate my rigging and carry him back on my ship?” Norfolk asked as they rushed down the beach.  
  
“No, I'll carry him back like this. It'll be faster that way” Hood replied as they reached the water, speeding off towards the fleet as soon as they touched it “Commander, this is Hood. We've found a survivor and are bringing him back” she said over comms.  
  
“Copy that Hood,” Grant said, “We'll have medical teams and Hermione on standby”.  
  
“Copy that sir,” Hood said as she skated across the sea towards the fleet.  
  
The fleet soon came back into view, just as Ark's recon planes flew overhead. Hood looked down at the young man in her arms. How did he get out here?. What happened to his ship?. Was he really a captain, or was she just mistaking him for one?. She didn't know, and she wouldn't be getting answers to these questions until he fully recovers from being isolated for god knows how long. That will take time.  
  
She just hoped that commander Grant's patience can last long enough for him to recover.

Cue Code Geass R1's 1st opening titles (with an Azur Lane theme to it), because that is by far the best out of the four openings.


	2. Chapter 2

Purple eyes slowly opened as the consciousness behind them slowly returned to reality. He felt surprisingly comfortably for once, so he was obviously in some kind of bed, probably a medical one considering the state he was in. His surroundings had changed as well, a grey room with metal walls and portholes. Must be on a ship then.  
  
Spending god knows how long alone on a deserted island was not good for his health and sanity, made worse by the fact that he should have been dead.  
  
He died, he felt the sword pierce his heart. There was no surviving that, he knew it, Suzaku knew it. Hell, he had told Suzaku to stab him again if he showed any sign of life after he dramatically fell onto the ground. It had been perfect, his Zero Requiem. Dying and taking all the worlds enmity and hatred with him.  
  
And yet, there he was. Alive, naked, and stuck on an isolated island in the middle of nowhere. He was lucky to find that bloodstained navy uniform to cover himself with. He had no idea where it came from, but at least it was something to wear.  
  
He was surprised that he lasted as long as he did on that island. The last time he was stuck on an island didn't go so well, he spent an entire day digging an animal trap, and caught nothing. Euphemia, on the other hand, managed to collect a massive amount of fruit. And this time he didn't have Euphemia to help him. He was completely alone on that island.  
  
He had contemplated just lying there on the sand, and let dehydration take him. But he quickly threw that notion aside. Suicide was the cowards way out, and he was not a coward. Surviving just so the universe didn't have the satisfaction of pushing him to suicide. If he was to go out again, it would be on his terms.  
  
Survival was difficult, but he managed it. It may have taken several days for him to get everything he needed to survive sorted out, but he succeeded. But whilst he had survival sorted out, his slowly fading sanity was a completely different battle. One that he was losing.  
  
Humans were social creatures, not meant to be isolated from others for extended periods of time. He tried his best to maintain his sanity, but there was something's he could not do alone. Hell, he thought he had finally lost it when he saw a woman standing over him with four double-barrelled tank turrets on her back. Not even Britannia had anything like that.  
  
He must have hallucinated the turrets, no way those things were real.  
  
“Oh, you're finally awake,” a polite female voice said as the sound of footsteps came closer, telling him that he wasn't alone in the room.  
  
He turned his head to the side to see who was approaching and was slightly surprised by what he saw. He knew it would be a young woman, her voice gave that much away, as well as her Britannian origin. And considering the room he was in, he suspected her to be a nurse. And she was. It was just that her uniform didn't look like something a real nurse should wear.  
  
She wore a tight-fitting white nurse dress just covered the top of her legs, with rather short sleeves. Black stockings that went up to her thighs, simple white shoes, white gloves, and nurse hat.  
  
The woman herself was kind-looking, with a friendly face, long white hair, and light yellow eyes.  
  
He had to make a double-take, just to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating again. He wasn't. He would have seriously had to question his brain if it was a hallucination.  
  
“Are you feeling ok?” the woman asked, giving him a friendly smile “You know you're lucky we spotted the smoke from that fire. If you hadn't started it, we may never have spotted you” she said. She had a noticeable Britannian accent.  
  
Well, that would explain how they found him.  
  
“Thanks,” Lelouch said, thankful that someone had finally taken him off that island.  
  
His stomach suddenly growled loudly.  
  
“Oh my. When was the last time you ate something?” the nurse asked, sounding very concerned.  
  
“Two days ago I think” Lelouch replied “That fish I was cooking was the only thing I've managed to catch in days” he added.  
  
“Oh, I'll just get you something to eat then,” the nurse said before she walked off, returning moments later with a tray of food “Here you go,” she said as she put that tray down onto the table next to the bed “Eat up”.  
  
Lelouch slowly sat up. He grabbed the tray and moved it onto his lap, and started eating. The food wasn't the best, but it was far better then what he had been eating on that island, and he was guaranteed a meal three times a day here. Far better than spending an entire day fishing and getting nothing for days on end.  
  
“Oh, I completely forgot to introduce myself” the nurse suddenly said “I am the light cruiser Hermione of the Dido class, and member of the Royal Maids,” she said with a polite bow.  
  
“Lelouch Lamperouge,” Lelouch said, keeping a calm face. It would be pointless to be flustered over something that didn't make sense, as that was an easy way to miss something important or draw unnecessary attention.  
  
He understood her status as a Royal Maid, his family did have a large number of maids working for them, plus there was Sayoko who looked after him and his sister. Her working as a nurse was also understandable, as there were nursemaids. But what was a royal maid doing on a ship?, unless this was a ship that belonged to Britannian royal family, or was just a title used by a fancy maid organisation. Probably the latter as the medical bay was a standard one and not one of the high-tech one's he remembered seeing on Britannian royal family-owned ships.  
  
Besides, it was obvious she didn't know who he was, and his face was very much well known across the planet. He made sure of that little detail.  
  
What really puzzled him was that she called herself a light cruiser. She was very obviously not a ship, but it was too soon to draw conclusions. It was far too easy to waste time fruitlessly speculating something with only bits of information. He would have to investigate this later when he has more information to work with and wasn't limited to a small medical bay.  
  
A sudden chirp, quickly followed by a large yellow bird jumping onto his bed brought him back to reality. The bird was egg-shaped and was about the size of a football, maybe larger. It kind of looked like a chicken chick, just egg-shaped. It also had a nurses hat on and was holding a bone saw.  
  
The strange bird turned to face him, with a sinister look on its face.  
  
To say that he wasn't at least surprised and frightened by the sudden appearance of this strange bird would be a slight understatement. He couldn't even hide his surprise.  
  
“No,” Hermione said as she slapped the bird on the head, and took away the bone saw it was holding “He is not here to have a leg removed” she scolded as she picked the bird up and put it back onto the floor. She gave Lelouch an apologetic smile “Sorry about him. He's a bit enthusiastic about cutting peoples limbs off” she said “I know, most Manjuu are nice. But some are a bit, weird”.  
  
Lelouch simply nodded. Manjuu, that's what that bird was called, a Manjuu. Now, this was a big clue telling him all he needed to know, this was not earth, at least not his earth. There were no yellow, egg-shaped birds called Manjuu back home. So it was obvious that he was on a different version of earth. One where Britannian and his family did not exist.  
  
More research seems to be in order. He'll have to find out all he can about this different version of earth, how its history differed from his own. And whether or not he could live a normal life here.  
  
“You ok?” Hermione asked “You look a bit pale”.  
  
“What,” Lelouch said, slightly surprised “Oh, sorry. Must have spaced out a bit”.  
  
“I understand,” Hermione said calmly “Having a Manjuu with a bone saw jump onto your bed with the intent to cut one of your legs off, can easily take the colour out of your cheeks,” she said with a smile.  
  
Lelouch simply nodded and went back to eating. He kept an eye out for the Manjuu that tried to cut off his legs, just in case it tried again.  
  
“So, I have a few questions I would like to ask you. About how you ended up on that island” Hermione said. Lelouch stopped eating “You don't have to answer them if you don't want to. You have just been rescued after all” she said, “But there are a one very important questions that need to be answered”.  
  
“Ok. Ask away” Lelouch said calmly, putting down his cutlery.  
  
“Alright. Where you got that captains uniform your wearing from?” Hermione said, “Your far too young to be the captain of a Royal Navy ship”.  
  
Of course, someone mistook him for a captain. He knew it was pointless to lie about where he got it from, nor could he lie about being a captain. He may have been the leader of the black knights, and ruler of the entire world for a time, but Britannia and the black knights probably did not exists here, so he could not rely on those backgrounds here.  
  
Thankfully, he knew these questions would come a long time ago, so he had plenty of time to come up with the perfect answer. The truth, with a little lie thrown in to help back up his story.  
  
“I found it on that island I was stranded on” Lelouch replied “I don't know where it came from, or who once owned it. It was just there, hanging from a tree with no sign of who put it there” he said “I only put them on as I had nothing else to wear. I'm just a merchant seaman”.  
  
“Wait. You were naked when you arrived on that island” Hermione said, blushing slightly “How did that happen?”.  
  
“It's kind of embarrassing” Lelouch replied with a smile “I was having a shower when the ship was struck. I don't know what hit it, only that whatever hit it caused it to sink quickly” he said, “I didn't have time to get changed before I had to abandon ship”.  
  
“You abandoned ship naked,” Hermione said as she flushed bright red “Well, you must have been glad that you found that abandoned uniform on that island. Would have been very embarrassing for everyone if you were naked”.  
  
Lelouch chuckled “Yes it would have”.  
  
The two shared a quick laugh. It was nice to be talking to someone, especially someone who didn't know who he was. It was, pleasant.  
  
Suddenly the door shot open, and a man wearing what looked like an admirals uniform walked into the room with an unhappy look on his face.  
  
Hermione quickly stood up and tried to get in-between the man and Lelouch, but got pushed out of the way by the aggressive man. He then walked over to Lelouch, grabbed him by the collar, and lifted him onto his feet, sending his tray of food flying.  
  
“Where did you get that Royal Navy uniform?” the man commanded loudly “Are you an Ironblood spy, trying to spy on us” he shouted, “Admit it, your a spy”.  
  
Lelouch tried his best to stay calm, but it was kind of difficult when you got a rather angry man shouting into your face. But for all his shouting, he had given him another clue about this world, Ironblood. He had no idea what it meant, but by the way, he was causing him of being one of their spy's, they were probably an organisation of some kind.  
  
He filed that word away for later, along with all the other things he'll need to investigate.  
  
“Commander,” Hermione said, sounding desperately like she was trying to not shout. Both Lelouch and the man turned to face her “He's not a spy, he's a seaman of the British Merchant Navy, nothing more” she said clearly.  
  
“Then why is he wearing the uniform of a Royal Navy captain then?” the man asked aggressively.  
  
“It's not his, he just found it on the island we picked him up on,” Hermione said, looking like she was holding back her anger “He wasn't exactly wearing his uniform when the ship he was on was sunk”.  
  
“And you believe that?” the man said sounding annoyed “It's a simple lie, hardly believable. Don't tell me you believe him”.  
  
Hermione raised a finger “If he was trying to spy on us, he would not admit to being a member of the Merchant Navy, he would have said he was a captain. But that lie would not work as he is far too young to be a captain of a ship. So him saying that he is a part of the British Merchant Navy is the truth” she said “As for the Ironblood spy. Why would they maroon someone on an island and hope that we would come by and pick them up, it doesn't make sense. They have far better ways to get a spy into our ranks without relying on a complicated and very unlikely to work plan”.  
  
Lelouch smiled inwardly. She was good, very good. He could have said all of that himself mind you, but it's so much easier to believe something if someone else also believes it. She unknowingly just helped reinforce his little lie.  
  
The man holding him suddenly let go of him, dropping him back onto the bed “Alright, I'll believe his lie” he said “But one wrong move out of you, and I'll make sure you regret coming off that island” he growled before he walked towards the door and left the room.  
  
Hermione sighed heavily before she walked over to the food tray and started cleaning the floor “I'm sorry about him, but he likes to vent his frustration on people” she apologised “He's not well like around here. Especially by us kansen”.  
  
“Oh, and whys that?” Lelouch asked. He could have just asked what's a kansen, but that would be a bit too obvious. The people of this earth probably knew exactly what a kansen was, so he would look suspicious if he asked that. So he asked the more obvious question, as that would answer several of his questions at once, not just one.  
  
“He was a seaman before the siren war started. Back then military ships were manned by hundreds of sailors. But then the sirens showed up, started taking over the sea's, and our navies couldn't fight them” Hermione replied “The final nail in the coffin was when we unlocked the power of the wisdom cubes and made us. No need to have hundreds of people operating a ship when you can get the ship to command itself. So the world navy's reduced the number of navy jobs by a massive amount” she explained as she finished cleaning up “Thousands of seamen were laid off as we took over their jobs. There are still some navy personal around, operation fleet command duties and patrol ships. But the majority of seamen were laid off. The commander has been sour about it ever since”.  
  
That gave him a lot of information about this earth. These sirens, whatever they may be, must be powerful if they forced the locals to build ships that can be controlled by a single person. These kansen must be humans who have been augmented with some kind of tech that allows them to command an entire ship all by themselves. Were casualty's that bad?. How many of these kansen were they building and losing in this war?.  
  
He shook his head. He was speculating again. He knew nothing about this war, so it was pointless to speculate on how bad it was.  
  
“So he's annoyed that you lot replaced the majority of the worlds navy's,” Lelouch said.  
  
“Yep, lost a lot of friends because of it. As a result, he's very rude to us kansen” Hermione said “As much as I would like to disobey his orders, I can't as he's the commander of the Azur Lane. I don't know why the Eagle Union allowed him to be appointed as it's commander, but they did” she said before she walked over to the bed “But that's enough talk for now. You should get some rest” she said.  
  
Lelouch nodded and laid back in bed. He desperately needed the rest, for two reasons. He was still tired after surviving on that island, plus he had a lot on his mind. This earth was vastly different from his own earth. Yes, there was no empire of Britannia conquering that planet, but that was an entirely new threat threatening humanity. These sirens, whatever they were, are attacking humanity. And this, Azur Lane organisation was fighting back.  
  
Looks like this planet wasn't as boring as he first thought. But, was this really his fight to fight?. He finished his fight, he won, he achieved his world peace. But there was no peace here, a war was being fought against a powerful enemy.  
  
He closed his eyes, He'll have to think about what he'll do later, once he knows more about this world.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been more than a day since Lelouch had woken up in that medical bay, and finally, Hermione deemed him fit enough to leave. They managed to find him a non-military uniform to wear, some spare clothing from one of the transport ships they were sailing with. Basic clothing really, but it was better than nothing.  
  
Due to his stats as a civilian, he was transported to one of the merchant ships, the S.S Thames. It wasn't preferably, but he didn't have any other choices. They did see him as a civilian, after all, no way they would keep him on board a military ship when there was a civilian ship they could dump him onto.  
  
S.S Thames was a small transport ship, two-thirds the size of the rest of the transport ships in the fleet, so it looked somewhat out of place. Oddly enough, the Thames was the only transport ship in the fleet that was armed, a single BL 4.7-inch, 45-calibre gun was mounted on the front of the ship. There were a few people on board who knew who to use the gun, but as far as he could tell, no one onboard knew why the ship had the gun in the first place.  
  
He wasn't exactly given something important to do whilst on the ship. It already had a full crew after all. So he was given a simple job of mopping the deck. Not the most dignified thing he could be doing, especially for someone with his upbringing. But there wasn't anything he could about it, as he couldn't use his status as the son of a Britannia noble, as Britannia did not exist here.  
  
He learnt a bit more about this earth over the past day or so. Britain, as it was called here, was still an empire, but it held much less territory then Britannia. Japan was independent, and America had seceded from Britain over a century ago. Yet the world was far from peaceful, as due to the sirens showing up, the planet was involved in a full-scale war, and not just against the sirens.  
  
German, calling itself the Ironblood, had joined the sirens and formed the Crimson Axis, an alliance of nations who have also joined the sirens. This alliance also included Italy, who called themselves the Sardegna Empire, and the Vichya Dominion, which is occupied France.  
  
The Azur Lane is the organisation that was formed to fight the sirens. Originally the members of the Crimson Axis were a part of the Azur Lane but left before the war started. It's members now include the Royal Navy, Britain. The Eagle Union, America. And the Eastern Radiance, China. There are also the North Union, Russia, and the Sakura Empire, Japan. But the North Union have been busy with sirens up in the north, and the Sakura Empire has been very quiet as of late.  
  
He was kind of happy that he was alone in this world. This was far from the world he wanted for Nunnally, very far from it.  
  
Kind of ironic that he died to make a peaceful world, only to end up in another war-torn one. It's like the universe didn't want him to live in a peaceful world. Still, the world was at war, and here he was mopping the deck of a ship. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.  
  
The next couple of days were repetitive and boring. There wasn't much to do, apart from card games. The crew were friendly, even the officers were friendly towards him. It was a big improvement over the rather rude attitude the people onboard the USS Calypso had towards him.  
  
He made a few acquaintances amongst the ship's crew, but they never quite approached friendship, as he had secrets sadly served as a border separated casual acquaintances and friends.  
  
He talked to a lot of people during meals, although most of what Lelouch said were lies. Some people somehow knew most of what he said were lies, but they never pushed for the truth. A common joke at the table was that he was the estranged son of a noble who joined the merchant navy just to get away from his dad. It was surprisingly funny, considering how close it was to the truth.  
  
Of course, working on a small transport ship was starting to get boring. He longed for a real challenge, the ships crew were so bad at poker that it was unfair to play against them. Plus the only chess set onboard was missing all but five pieces, six if you count the black king piece he carried with him.  
  
Three days before the fleet was due to arrive at its destination, he got his chance to put his skills to the test.  
  
It started off as a normal day. He was moping the main deck when he someone at the very front of the ship, resting against the side rail. A woman wearing a fine Edwardian styled blue coat with a Union Jack capelet, and a rather odd hat that looked like it had part of a ship on top of it.  
  
She was standing by the rail, looking out to sea with her arms behind her back. She held herself with a calm and proper demeanour, and there was an air of elegance around her.  
  
Lelouch had to admit, she was a very elegant woman. But he couldn't help but wonder if he's seen her before.  
  
It was only when he got close did she speak. “Nice weather we're having,” she said with a polite and calm voice, she then turned towards him. She had a polite and gentle smile on her face.  
  
“Agreed,” Lelouch said as he put a pause to his moping “Quite too, no sign of Siren activity” he added.  
  
The woman simply hummed in response before she turned back towards the sea, gazing out into the open ocean. His gaze followed hers and he too was looking out at the ocean, watching the waves rise and fall as a gentle sea breeze blew over them.  
  
“I just wish it was as calm and peaceful like this all over the world,” the woman said with a slight frown “I just wish the Crimson Axis would see the error of their ways and rejoin the Azur Lane. This war of theirs is pointless”.  
  
Lelouch had to agree with her on that one. The planet was under attack by an alien force, and yet, some people decide to declare war on the people who are fighting to protect the planet from the invaders. Human stupidity at it's finest.  
  
“Still, I'm glad to see that you're doing well after we rescued you,” the woman said as she turned to face him “I was worried when you fainted in front of me,” she said with concern in her voice.  
  
“Oh, so your the one I last saw on that island,” Lelouch said, realising where he had first seen her.  
  
The woman smiled “I am the Admiral-class battlecruiser, Hood. The pride of the Royal Navy” she said, introducing herself with the elegance of a lady.  
  
“Lelouch Lamperouge, British Merchant Navy,” Lelouch said, reinforcing the simple lie that had become his life now.  
  
“Yes, Hermione told me who you were are,” Hood said politely “Are you sure you're not a son of a noble because your polite and charming demeanour tells me otherwise?” she asked.  
  
Lelouch let out a small laugh “You too” he said with a smile “I've already got half the crew thinking that, and now I've got a kansen thinking it too” he said, “If I was a noble, I wouldn't be working for the merchant navy”.  
  
Hood sighed “Fair point,” she said before she looked back out to sea “I just wish the commander was as polite as you,” she said.  
  
Lelouch rested on his mop “You don't like him?” he inquired.  
  
“Who doesn't. He's rude, selfish, repulsive. He sends us out on missions when we need to rest, shifts funds away from us to pay for unimportant things” Hood said with a hint of anger in her voice “Hell, I would have talked to you sooner if he didn't keep distracting me with pointless chores”.  
  
“Yeah, I got told by Hermione how badly he treats you. How did he even get to command the Azur lane?” he asked.  
  
“Because he gets results, and that's all the Eagle Union cares about” Hood replied “His superiors will ignore his less than desirable qualities as long as he keeps winning battles against the sirens. The Royal Navy's been trying to get him replaced by someone who doesn't overwork us, But they've been trying their hardest to keep him in control” she explained before turning around to face him “It'll take a miracle to get him out of that job”.  
  
Suddenly a large beam of energy shot across the ocean, tearing straight through several ships, splitting them apart.  
  
Hood sighed as she looked up “I asked for a miracle, not a siren-” she said before an almighty explosion knocked both of them off their feet, tumbling to the ground as their ears rang.  
  
“Ah” Lelouch groaned as he sat up. That was a big explosion, probably from a warship. He noticed Hood was having trouble standing up, so he quickly got up and helped her up.  
  
“Thank you,” Hood said, thanking him politely as he helped her up “Now then, what-. My god” she gasped as they quickly saw the burning remains of the USS Calypso, it's crippled body burning as it quickly sank beneath the waves.  
  
“The command ship. It-It's gone” Hood shuddered as she watched the last bit of the Calypso fall beneath the waves, taking its entire crew with it.  
  
“Siren!” someone suddenly shouted, knocking Hood back to her senses.  
  
They both turned towards the front of the ship and saw a large pillar of water shoot out of the sea. A human-like woman then jumped out of the water with what looked like a metal manta ray on her back, with several canons built into it.  
  
Hood quickly grabbed him and pulled him back out of the way of the incoming siren, just in time too, as the siren swiped at them as she landed directly where they had been previously standing.  
  
For an alien invader, the sirens looked remarkably human. She had long white hair, pale skin, and inhuman yellow eyes, she also had a psychotic smirk on her face.  
  
“Tester Beta,” Hood said as she took on a defensive posture, shielding Lelouch behind her.  
  
“Ah, if it isn't little miss Hood” the siren, Tester, said with a smirk “Interrupting something I see”.  
  
“Why are you here” Hood demanded, keeping her eyes fixed on Tester.  
  
“Oh, I'm here just to pick up something” Tester replied calmly “I don't know what it is, Observer only told me that you lot had picked up something of great importance to us some time ago and that in was onboard one of your ships” she explained as she took a few steps forward “So if you could just hand it over, and I won't destroy any more of your ships”.  
  
“Like we'll hand anything over to you,” Hood said with a polite elegance. Lelouch was surprised she was able to maintain it “Besides, whatever it is you came for, it's been destroyed, along with the command ship you destroyed”.  
  
Testers psychotic smirk quickly disappeared, replaced by a look of dread “I destroyed the command ship!” she shuddered rather uncharacteristically “Oh fucking shit, I was not supposed to do that. Observer is so going to send me to the Russian front for this” she fretted “Ok, I can fix this. All I need to do is destroy all the ships, starting with this-” she said before she was interrupted by a biplane ramming into her.  
  
“Thank you, Ark, she was really starting to annoy me,” Hood said, probably into some kind of earpiece “... get the rest of the girls into their rigging, we need to protect the convoy from her” she said as she started towards the side rail “... Yes, I know it's going to be a lot harder now that the commanders dead, but we have no other choice. We don't have a spare commander”.  
  
“I might be able to help,” Lelouch said, prompting Hood to stop and look at him.  
  
“Keep attacking the Siren, I'll be there to help soon,” Hood said before she walked over to him “What do you mean, you might be able to help?” she asked.  
  
“I, have a basic grasp of naval combat strategy” he lied, he had far more combat experience then he was letting on, but it would be suspicious if he said he was a strategic mastermind, so basic understand it was then. “I might be able to offer some help in fighting the siren,” he said.  
  
Hood looked at him, looking deep in thought. He hoped she would take him up on his offer of assistance. Honestly, he was only offering his assistance on a whim, he had confidence that they would be able to fight and defeat this siren. But, he wanted to see in person just how these siren fight, and how they would react to his tactics. He would just have to be sure to not overdo things, as the last thing he needed was to draw attention to himself.  
  
“Alright, if you can help us, then that's fine,” Hood said as she passed him a radio and binoculars “We need all the help we can get. Just don't make me regret this dissension” she said before she turned around, rushed towards the side rail, and jumped off of the ship.  
  
Lelouch, not knowing why she would do that, rushed after her just to check to see that she was alright. What he saw was surprising, as Hood was now standing on the water with four double-barrelled tank turrets on her back. No, not tank turrets, ship turrets. Now he knew why they had to cut so many navy jobs, the kansen did not just command the ship, they were the ship.  
  
Hood quickly skated off towards the siren, who looked busy fighting a few more kansen, all of them with parts of a ship on them. This he did not expect, but it wasn't something that he couldn't accommodate for.  
  
“Well then” he smirked as he raised the binoculars to his face “Let's see how well you sirens play”.

  



	4. Chapter 4

Tester was not having a good day, not only had she accidentally destroyed the Azur Lane command ship, killing their commander in the process, but she had also destroyed what she came here to collect. But she had to admit, she has had worse days, and this day was turning out to be even worse as the royal navy kansen were surprisingly competent today, surprisingly more so than usual.  
  
She fired her main gun at Suffolk, only to end up getting broadsided by Prince of Wales. She quickly turned to fire at her, only for her starboard battery to explode. Some sneaky git had shoved a torpedo down the barrel, causing it to explode when she fired. This was the second time this tactic had been used successfully on her, taking out port side hip gun. They were systematically destroying her rigging, piece by piece, which was getting annoying as she couldn't sink them without her weapons.  
  
Who was commanding these girls? With the commander dead they should be a disorganised mess, having to rely on split-second decisions during combat. But here, someone was defiantly commanding them, and it wasn't the Azur Lane commander, as he was A, dead as fuck, and B, not capable of pulling tactics like this out of his ass.  
  
Someone else was commanding them, someone with far more competence then the now dead commander.  
  
A glance to the side gave her a good idea who was commending the fleet, Hood was standing far back from the battle, not fighting, but watching. She couldn't see if she was giving orders, but she was defiantly observing the battle.  
  
Tester charged towards her. Half of her guns may be destroyed, but she could still make the battlecruiser regret pissing her off. Plus she still had her claws.  
  
Hood had obviously spotted her approaching, and not only fired her main guns, but also fired a barrage at her. The first salvo, as well as most of the barrage, hit her directly, causing massive damming to her already ruined rigging. But it didn't matter how much damage she took, if this body died, she could easily download into a new one. So she kept on charging towards Hood, ready to rip her face off when she got close.  
  
Hood predictably turned and quickly retreated to the transport fleet, probably to distract her whilst the rest of the fleet caught back up. But she would not let her escape so easily. Even whilst she was being shot at she still pursued Hood.  
  
When Hood reached the fleet she jumped over one of the transport ships. Tester would have destroyed the ship, but her main guns had been so badly damaged that she would most likely miss, so she rushed over the ship and jumped over it, a smile pasted over her face.  
  
Her smile quickly changed to a look a surprise as she saw Hood crouched down on the deck of the ship, her guns pointed directly at her. Above her was a 45-calibre gun, also pointed directly at her.  
  
She barely had time to notice the grin on Hood's face before the battlecruiser and the 45-calibre gun fired at her.

  


Lelouch smiled as the broken body of the siren fell onto the deck, yellow blood dripping out of its body. A loud cheer came from the ships crew moments later, celebrating the Sirens death.  
  
“All ships, siren has been eliminated,” Lelouch said into the radio “Return to formation and deactivate your rigging”.  
  
“You did well out there Lelouch,” Hood said as she walked over to him “Surprisingly good, all things coincided. The way you commanded us out there, the confidence in your voice. It sounded a lot like you had more than a basic understanding of combat strategy”.  
  
Lelouch chuckled “I might be what you call a natural-born leader,” he said with a smile “Plus I'm surprised most of the strategies I used on that siren worked, especially shoving a torpedo down one of her barrels. I was especially surprised when that worked twice” he lied, kind of. He knew his strategies would work, he just didn't expect them to work as well as they did. He wasn't lying about the torpedo trick, that had no right to work twice. But it did, so he didn't complain.  
  
The ambush trick worked as well, admittedly that only had a 50% chance to work as the Siren could have easily shot the ship. But she didn't, which was a relief. He took a real gamble with that one, and it paid off.  
  
“Well, it worked out well for us. Especially the ambush on the Thames, that worked out rather well,” Hood said before she turned to the 45-calibre gun “I honestly had forgotten that regular guns could still be used to harm and kill sirens. She did not see that coming”.  
  
“Well, a 45-calibre gun is still a 45-calibre gun,” Lelouch said “A 4.7-inch shell would still be able-OW” he yelped as something hit him on the head, knocking him off balance and causing him to fall onto the ground.  
  
The crew's celebrations stopped as Hood quickly rushed over to him and knelt beside him “You alright?” she asked, sounding very concerned.  
  
“Yeah, I'm fine” Lelouch replied and he brushed the area on his head that had been hit “What hit-Ghh” he shrieked as he saw the decapitated head of the Siren, laying on the ground with a rather annoyed look on its face. Even he had to admit it was a creepy sight to see, a decapitated head looking at you with judgmental eyes. He took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes. The siren was dead, so there was no way it could-.  
  
“You know Hood” Testers decapitated head said, sounding rather annoyed. Lelouch opened his eyes and looked directly at Testers head “I hate you right now, you know that right?” she said.  
  
“I know,” Hood said calmly before she stood up and grabbed Testers long, white hair and started spinning her around quickly “And you are starting to annoy me too,” she said before she lobed Testers head up into the air and aimed her main guns at it “Cover your ears,” she said, giving everyone present time to cover their ears before firing at Testers head “There, that should be the last we hear of that annoyance for a while,” she said with a polite smile before she helped Lelouch back to his feet.  
  
“Thanks,” Lelouch said.  
  
“Your welcome” Hood said with a smile “I'll get Hermione to look you over, just in case”.  
  
“Yeah, that might be a good idea,” Lelouch said before he stumbled a bit “Defiantly a good idea,” he said before he looked back at Hood “You should get out of your rigging, the siren's no longer a threat”.  
  
“Indeed I should,” Hood said before she walked to the side of the boat “See you around, commander,” she said playfully before jumping off the side of the ship and moved back into formation. A large blue flash later and the HMS Hood appeared in all it's glory in formation, with Hood standing on the Bow of the ship.  
  
“Looks like someone has caught the eye of the pride of the royal navy,” one of the ship's crew said as he playfully patted Lelouch's shoulder.  
  
“Hey, all I did was take temporal command of a small fleet and defeat a single Siren, nothing too impressive,” Lelouch said calmly as he felt a large number of people crowd around him.  
  
“Nothing too impressive!, do you have any idea what you just said,” another crewmember said “Sirens are fleet killers. Back when they first showed up, they butchered the worlds navy's, it took hundreds of ships just to kill one siren” he explained.  
  
“Plus you commanded the fleet like you've done it before. Skills like that just don't come naturally to someone”.  
  
Well shit, no one had told him Sirens were that powerful. If he knew that, that he probably wouldn't have gone overboard with how he commanded the kansen. Hell, he shouldn't have tried killing it with the Thames' only gun and just had the kansen fire at it until it was dead.  
  
This was going to get him on someone radar, wasn't it? Well, there goes trying to lay low.  
  
Oh well, time for plan B. Sit back and see what happens. Who knows, things might start getting interesting.

  


Later that day, onboard HMS Hood.  
  
“More tea, lady Hood,” Hermione asked, holding a teapot.  
  
“Yes please, thank you” Hood replied with a polite smile before Hermione pored her some more tea.  
  
She was sitting down at a table on board her ship. With here was Ark, Prince of Wales, and Icarus. With Suffolk, Norfolk, and Hermione serving them.  
  
“So, with the Azur Lane commander now dead, we now have the perfect opportunity to get one of our own commanding the Azur Lane,” Wales said, putting her cup down onto its saucer “But the question is, who should we appoint as the new commander?”.  
  
“That's going to be difficult, the war with the Crimsom Axis has cost us our greatest navy commanders,” Ark said, “We don't have anyone experienced enough left to command it”.  
  
“We're going to have that bastard Rayden Gomez put in charge, aren't we,” Icarus said with a frown “He's almost as bad as Grant”.  
  
“Yes, he is. But his track record isn't as good” Hood calmly said “He is far less competent then Grant, so the Eagle Union will be a lot less forgiving of his less than desirable quality's. Besides, we have the perfect replacement commanded within this fleet” she said as she took a sip of tea.  
  
“You're referring to Lelouch Lamperouge, aren't you. The boy we recovered from the island” Wales said “I do have to admit, he would make a perfect commander. The way he commanded us whilst fighting Tester. That was not beginners luck, that was an experienced commander utterly humiliating a foe” she said “I don't know who he is, or how he learned to be such a good commander, but he would make a far better commander of the AL they anyone else we have. The real question is how are we going to convince the Admiralty to not only accept him into their ranks but to also get them to appoint him as our candidate for the AL commander”.  
  
“Yes, you do have a point there,” Ark said “He's a civilian working for the merchant navy. Getting them to agree to appointing him as a fleet commander is going to be difficult. Especially considering we don't know anything about who he is”.  
  
“Oh I don't think that will be much of a problem, most of the admiralty still owe me a few favours, so I should be able to convince them to accept him,” Hood said wit ha smile.  
  
“That may not work Hood, they won't just accept him without evidence of his command ability's,” Wales said “We would need to put him through another battle or two, just to convince them that this was not a fluke. And I don't see any battles coming up”.  
  
“On the contrary, Wales. I do believe that a battle is coming up, one that will defiantly prove to the admiralty just how good of a commander Lelouch is” Hermione said, “Bismarck has been spotted in Norway with Prinz Eugen”.  
  
“Bismarck!. She's in Norway” Wales said sounding surprised.  
  
“She's probably planning to attack our shipping lanes,” Hood said as she calmly took a sip of tea “It's what I would do if I were there,” she said “This would be the perfect opportunity to test Lelouch's command ability. Bismarck is no slouch in combat and is a very good commander in her own right. She will make a perfect opportunity to see his command ability's in full”.  
  
“Beating her won't be easy, she will probably have a large escort fleet with her. She is the leader of the Ironblood after all” Wales said, “This could backfire on us, Hood”.  
  
“And if it does, I will take full responsibility for it,” Hood said, “But this is our best chance of getting someone from the royal navy in charge of the AL, even if we have to bend a few rules to do so”.  
  
“We will be bending more than a few rules with this” Ark said “But if it works, it works. Now, all we need to do is get a command ship over here, convince him to work for the royal navy, and hope the admiralty will agree to it all”.  
  
“I don't think that will be much of a problem,” Hood said calmly “Once they have a clear grasp of the situation, they will have no choice but to agree to it. This is exactly the kind of thing they have been looking for, after all” she said with a smile “If everything goes well, we won't have to suffer a commander who hates us”.


	5. Chapter 5

“So, you want me to leave my job in the royal merchant fleet, become a commander in the royal navy, and command a small task force in taking out the leader of the Ironblood,” Lelouch said, covering the basics of what he was just told.  
  
He was sitting at a table on the main deck of HMS Hood, with Hood, Ark Royal, and Prince of Wales, with Hermione serving them. The rest of the kansen were out in the fleet, protecting the fleet and commanding the mass-produce ships, which wasn't an easy task as the command ship was destroyed.  
  
“Well, that the basic run down,” Hood said, putting her cup down “But yes, that is what we would like you to do. You can refuse if you want to, but after witnessing your command ability's I feel that you'll be perfect as a command for the royal navy,” she said.  
  
Lelouch smiled inwardly. This was far easier than he originally thought. After he accidentally went overboard with commanding the fleet, he had expected the Royal Navy to take notice in him. He just didn't expect it to happen so quickly, nor did he expect to be offered a position within their command structure so soon. Plus his first job as a fleet commander would be to go up against the leader of the Ironblood, Bismarck.  
  
He didn't even need to use Geass on anyone. Although he should probably check to see if he still had it. He hadn't accidentally used it on anyone, but that didn't mean he didn't have it, just that it wasn't uncontrollable.  
  
He should get contact-lenses, just in case.  
  
“And your admiralty is ok with this” Lelouch said.  
  
“It took some convincing, but they are willing to give you a shot to prove yourself,” Hood said before she sighed “Truth be told, this war isn't going well for us. We've lost a lot of our good commanders to both the Sirens and the Crimson Axis, and with the recent death of the commander of the Azur Lane. Our leadership is suffering greatly, and we desperately need new commanders”.  
  
“And you think that I would make a good replacement commander,” Lelouch said, Hood looked like she was about to say something, but Lelouch quickly cut her off “Don't worry, I'll accept your offer. Just one question, do you really think it's a good idea to send me against Bismarck so soon. She is the leader of the Ironblood after all”.  
  
“Well, we kind of do need to put you through a few more battles, just so the admiralty can realise that the battle against the siren wasn't a fluke,” Prince of Wales said.  
  
“Plus Bismarck isn't actuary the leader of the Ironblood, she's just the face, so to speak” Ark Royal added, “She's just in charge of navy, and even then she still has to report to a superior. It would be rather daft of humanity to put a kansen in charge of an entire country”.  
  
Well, that was some useful information. Bismarck wasn't the one in charge of the Ironblood, someone else was giving her orders. That was useful to know.  
  
“I see. So, what's the plan to take on Bismarck?” Lelouch asked.  
  
“The plan is to have Norfolk and Suffolk cover the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland, a second group consisting of myself and Prince of Wales will cruise to the south of Iceland to intercept Bismarck and her escort fleet once they've been detected” Hood explained “Once the transport fleet arrives, Icarus will leave and join up with a fleet of other destroyers and join us. Most of the overall plan has already been sorted out by the admiralty, all you have to do is command the battle, nothing more”.  
  
Ok, so most of the plan has already been sorted out, and he had to admit, it was a not the best plan. He could easily come up with a better plan, but he wasn't the one in charge of everything, so he would just have to make do with what he was given.  
  
“Ok, that looks workable. But tell me, what will Ark Royal be doing, and will I have a command ship” Lelouch asked, “Because having an aircraft carrier will help massively when dealing with Bismarck”.  
  
“Sadly I won't be able to help it this battle” Ark replied “Once we reach port, my rigging has to go in for repair. As for the command ship, ur, do we still have a spare command ship available?” she asked.  
  
Hood shook her head “No, all royal navy command ships are in use. We have none spare”.  
  
“Well, that seems like a major problem. Where am I going to command the fleet from?” Lelouch asked.  
  
“Fair point. Without a command ship, we won't be able to bring in mass-produced ships” Prince of Wales said, “Plus one of us would have to carry him, which will servery hamper our combat ability”.  
  
“You think the admiralty would have thought about this before they agreed to this” Hermione said, “And before you ask, I can't help either. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth has requested my presence. Once we reach port, I will be leaving to meet with her”.  
  
“Well, this was badly thought out,” Lelouch remarked, “Me being there will hamper someone's combat ability. Unless we can bring in another ship from me to command from”.  
  
“Well, we can't use a transport ship, they're all owned by private companies,” Hood said “Plus we can't use a mass-produce ship, as their not kitted out for command duties. Plus their armour is effectively tissue paper against kansen and siren weapons, so it's not the best type of ship to use”.  
  
“Looks like we're going to have to call 'her' in to help,” Hood said calmly “Hermione, can you get me the phone please?” she asked, ignoring bot Ark Royal and Prince of Wales, who had spit out their tea.  
  
“Ur, sure,” Hermione said sounding rather surprised before she walked off.  
  
Wales looked at Hood with shocked eyes “You can not be serious, Hood” she said sounding shocked.  
  
“On the contrary, I am very serious,” Hood said calmly “We need a ship for Lelouch to command us from. With a command ship unavailable to us, we must rely on a kansen who's ship has command and control systems built into her,” she said, “She is the only kansen in the royal navy with such systems built into her. She was our prototype after all”.  
  
“Prototype?” Lelouch said “Who are you girls talking about?” he asked.  
  
“HMS Dreadnought, the first kansen” Prince of Wales replied “She was the first ship ever to be manifested as a human, and was used as a testbed. Just so humanity had a better idea on what they were doing with wisdom cubes” she explained “Back then her ship was fitted with command and control systems to better command our fleets against the Sirens. But when it was found out that it was very unsafe for humans to be onboard a kansen's ship when they activate their rigging, all the command systems were moved to separate ships”.  
  
“So I take it her command and control systems were never removed,” Lelouch said.  
  
“They weren't, but they are very outdated,” Ark said, “Plus since she was built during an era where planes weren't a problem, she has no AA guns”.  
  
“She was also never sent into battle against the sirens and is very pissed off about it” Prince of Wales added.  
  
“We have no choice in the matter, her command systems can still be used,” Hood said, “Besides, you two know just as well as I do that she can't activate her rigging, not since the accident,” she said as Hermione returned with a mobile phone.  
  
“Here's the phone, my lady,” Hermione said as she put the phone down next to Hood “You should really keep that on your person. Someone could easily steal it,” she said.  
  
“This dress doesn't exactly have pockets on it,” Hood said as she picked up the phone, she then dialled a number and held it up to her head “Hello... Ah hello, Dreadnought, Hood here. How have you been doing?... oh that's good to know... Yep. Well, I was wondering... what?... you can't be serious... seriously... she wore that to work... oh my...” she said, sounding surprised.  
  
Lelouch had no idea what she was talking about, but he figured that it would be better that he didn't know.  
  
“Oh yes, I was wondering if we could use your ship. We kind of don't have a command ship available and we desperately need one... oh... is there anything you can do about it... alright, I'll send you our route and we'll meet her on the way... yep... see you later” Hood said before she put the phone down “Ok, I've got good news, and bad news. The bad news is that Dreadnought can't help us, she's too busy training the new maids. The good news is that she's sending someone who can help act as a command ship for us. She'll meet us somewhere on our route”.  
  
“Any idea who she's sending to help?” Prince of Wales asked.  
  
“No I don't, she didn't say,” Hood said, “All she said about her is that 'she's been waiting to test out her new equipment', whatever that means”.  
  
“Oh well, we'll just have to wait and see,” Prince of Wales said “Ark, Hermione, you two should return to your ships. We will be leaving for the Denmark Strait soon,” she said as she stood up  
  
“As you wish,” Ark Royal said as she stood up “I wish you success with your mission,” she said before she, Hermione, and Prince of Wales left for their ships.  
  
Hood waited for a few minutes, giving the others enough time to get to their ships before she stood up “Now then, let us be off” she said. Moments later the ship changed course and moved away from the fleet, Prince of Wales, Norfolk, and Suffolk soon joined them, moving close together as they moved away from the transport fleet.  
  
Lelouch watched from the side of the ship, watching as the transport fleet got further and further away.  
  
He heard Hood walk up behind him “It must feel bad, leaving so many friends behind” she said, putting a hand onto his shoulder.  
  
Lelouch smiled slightly “Not really,” he said, still looking at the fleet “They were mostly acquaintances, not friends. I wasn't there long enough to get to know any of them well,” he said.  
  
“Of course. All your friends would have gone down with your old ship” Hood said sombrely, lowering her head “Tell me, what was the name of the ship you worked on?”.  
  
Lelouch lowered his head “I-I don't remember” he lied, seeing that he didn't come from a destroyed ship. Thankfully he could rely on his background of being found on an island, they had no idea how long he spent on that island, so it was easy to fake forgetting the name of the ship use supposedly served on “I've been stuck on that island for, I don't know how long, I must have forgotten it”.  
  
“I understand. Memory can be such a fickle thing” Hood said “Humans are just not supposed to be alone for long periods of time. Don't worry, if your friends on your old ship could see you know, they would be so proud of you. You're in a command position within the royal navy”.  
  
“I think most of them would be jealous of me, not happy,” Lelouch said with a slight chuckle.  
  
“That too,” Hood said “Also you should really think about getting a shave and a hair cut, you head is a mess,” she remarked.  
  
“Well, I haven't really been able to, what with me not having the required tools to do so,” Lelouch said “You wouldn't have a shaving kit onboard?” he asked.  
  
Hood shook her head “Sadly not, I can only carry ammunition and fuel, anything else will be destroyed when I activate my rigging. One of the downsides of being a kansen, all our food has to be transported on a different ship. Unless it's a supply ship, as anything their carrying isn't destroyed when their rigging activates. Still not safe for a human to be on them, as that gets rather messy”.  
  
“I can guess,” Lelouch said, looking back at the transport fleet, which was just barely visible over the horizon.  
He smiled inwardly. Now things were getting interesting.

  


Meanwhile, somewhere else.  
  
“You're going to get sent to the Russian front,” Purifier said as she and Tester walked down the cold, white corridor “Although, the real question is which one,” she said.  
  
“Don't talk about it, Purifier” Tester said sounding annoyed. Ever since she got back she had been pestered by Purifier none stop.  
  
“Maybe she'll send you to simulation fifty-two, or maybe ninety-nine,” Purifier said before she smiled “Maybe you'll be sent to simulation thirty-one”.  
  
Tester shuddered, she had bad memories of simulation thirty-one. The endless Kirov spam still haunted her. Hopefully, she wouldn't be sent there.  
  
“Look, I didn't mean to kill the Azur Lane commander from simulation forty-three” Tester said, “I just, missed my target a bit”.  
  
“The laser shot through four vessels. You hit your target, as well as everything behind it” Purifier corrected with a smile “Face it, Observer is not going to be happy with you”.  
  
“What am I not going to be happy with?” the voice of Observer Alpha asked behind them.  
  
Testes shout around and saw Observer Alpha behind her, resting within the tentacles of her rigging. Sitting on her lap was Observer Mini, the child version of Observer Alpha that was recently created after a small skirmish with the Azur Lane of simulation eighty.  
  
“Ur, hi Observer. How are things?” Tester asked nervously.  
  
“Fine, thank you” Observer replied “Although you are acting a bit out of character. Are you in need of maintenance?” she inquired.  
  
Tester was about to reply, but Purifier spoke up first “Tester just killed the Azur Lane commander of simulation forty-three” she said with a devious smile.  
  
“Oh, good” Observer said with a sigh of relief “I don't have to order that simulation's commanders death now”.  
  
“What!” both Tester and Purifier exclaimed, rather confused that Observer was happy about that simulations AL commanders death.  
  
“You seem surprised,” Observer said calmly “His death was already planed. He would die, and be replaced by someone from the royal navy” she explained “Seeing that he has died sooner than expected, we can move on to the next phase of that simulation. Tell me, Tester, did you happen to see a boy about eighteen years of age, with raven hair and purple eyes?” she asked.  
  
“Well, now that you mention it. There was someone who matched that description” Tester replied, “He was with Hood when I saw him. But his hair was a mess and looked like he was in desperate need of a shave”.  
  
Both Observes smiled “Good” Alpha said “Deploy a Lurker to monitor him, and to protect him if necessary. It should be your top priority in that simulation that he becomes the next commander of the Azur Lane” she ordered before moving away “I expect to see a full report later”.  
  
Tester and Purifier just watch Observer move away, still rather confused.  
  
“Ok, so I know we're had to secretly protect Azur Lane commanders before. But we've never deployed a Lurker to protect one before” Purifier said, “Plus we've never been required to make sure someone becomes the command of the AL”.  
  
“You think this has something to do with Dreamweaver's plan?” Tester asked.  
  
“Probably, it is one of her simulations after all” Purifier replied “I wonder what she's planning with it?” she wondered.  
  
“I have no idea” Tester said “What I do know is that Observer will be mad at us if we don't get to work,” she said as they went back to walking down the corridor.  
  
“Agreed” Purifier said as they walked off. Both of them wondering what exactly Observer was planing with this human.


	6. Chapter 6

Lelouch stood at the front of HMS Hood, looking out to sea. There was very little to actually do onboard the ship, and he couldn't do most of his command duty's without a command ship. Luckily for him, they were due to meet with the kansen who's ship will be used as a makeshift command ship, so he had that to look forward to.  
  
Still didn't know who's ship he'll be using.  
  
He was still wearing the uniform he was given to him, and he still hadn't gotten his hair and face cleaned up, as none of the kansen had a shaving kit on them. He'll just have to hope that the kansen that's coming will have a kit on her.  
  
He heard footsteps walking up behind him. He turned his head as saw Hood walking up to him.  
  
“You ok?” she asked as she walked up to him.  
  
“I'm fine” Lelouch replied “I'm just coming up with a basic outline of the plan to take on Bismarck,” he said.  
  
“I see,” Hood said, “I guess you'll be able to come up with a full plan once the command ship arrives”.  
  
Lelouch nodded “I'll be following the admiralty's plan, have Norfolk and Suffolk follow Bismarck and her escort fleet whilst we and the destroyer fleet attack from the front,” he said, “But that's if everything goes as planned, the battlefield is an unpredictable place after all. You never do know what's going to happen”.  
  
“Yes, you never do know what will happen,” Hood said “You're sure your not an experienced commander with several battles under your belt?” she asked.  
  
“I might have learned a few things from my father. He had a lot of books on the subject” Lelouch lied, he didn't learn anything about combat strategy from his father, he taught himself how to command armies.  
  
Hood looked at him with an almost sorry look “It sounds like you didn't like your father much” she said.  
  
Lelouch smirked, she was very good at reading people “What gave it away?” he asked, not expecting an answer from her “Yeah, I hated him. After my mother was killed and sister crippled during a siren attack, he disowned both of us and sent us to japan. He even blinded my sister”.  
  
Hood choked “He what!” she said, sounding very shocked “Why would he do such a thing?” she asked.  
  
“To make her look less threatening” Lelouch replied, turning to Hood. She looked horrified “I'm not surprised you're horrified by it. I was too when I found out about it, and angry. So angry that I came back to Britain to kill him”.  
  
“Did you?” Hood asked, looking concerned.  
  
“No” Lelouch replied calmly “He was killed during a siren attack a few years ago,” he said, “I was annoyed at first, that the sirens got to him before I could. But then I realised that it was the perfect karmic death for him, dying to the same thing that killed my mother and sister”.  
  
Hood lowered her head “So your sister died as well”.  
  
“Yes. She was killed in a siren attack a year ago” Lelouch said, lying as his sister Nunnally didn't exist in this world. It was painful to say that his sister was dead, but it was the most logical thing he could say. It helped that he had a very long time to come up with his cover story “Her death, well, broke me. All I could think about was getting revenge on my father for sending us out there. I was so blinded by hatred that I didn't even bother to check to see if he was still alive”.  
  
They stood there for a while, not speaking as they watched the sea gently move up and down. He looked over at Hood, it was obvious she was thinking about something.  
  
“Lelouch,” Hood said.  
  
“Yes, Hood,” Lelouch said, turning his head towards her.  
  
“Have you-. Never mind, forget I said anything” Hood said before looking away.  
  
Lelouch looked at her before looking back at the sea, something was defiantly on her mind, something tragic. Had she done something in her past that she regretted? She definitely acted like it. He sighed, he wouldn't force her to talk about it.  
  
“Commander,” the voice Prince of Wales said into his ear. He had an earpiece on that allowed him to communicate with the kansen under his command “The destroyer fleet has arrived. HMS Achates, Antelope, Anthony, Echo, Electra, and Icarus are now under your command” she said, “Also the command ship has arrived”.  
  
“Good. Tell her to move along us so I can board her” Lelouch said.  
  
“Don't worry, I'm already doing that” the voice of a hyperactive young girl said, “I'm coming up along the port side”.  
  
It unnerved him that the destroyers looked like young girls, but that was how they manifested. It felt wrong to send them into battle, but they seem perfectly fine with it. He'll just have to grin and bear it and order them into battle when the time came.  
  
“Copy that,” Lelouch said before he walked over to the port side of the ship, followed by Hood who had a rather annoyed and disappointed look on her face. He looked over the side and saw the ship coming alongside them.  
  
It was a small ship, about the size of a destroy, but it was wider and taller and was very low in the water. It looked to be some kind of ironclad, with black smoke coming out of it's two rear funnels. There was a single large turret on the front of the ship with two cannons on it, and several more guns on its side and a single gun at the back of the ship.  
  
There were several Manjuu running about the deck of the ship, cleaning and maintaining the ship. There was also a young girl standing at the front of the ship, looking slightly older than most destroyers. She looked like she came straight out of 1890 what with the clothing she was wearing. A thick black dress with a long skirt, fancy black shoes, a nice hat, and a sabre by her side. She also had what looked like a plush toy of some kind of three-legged walker, a kind of tripod fighting-machine.  
  
The young girl looked up at them and smiled, before jumping up rather high into the air and landing right in front of them on the deck of HMS Hood. She turned to face them and bowed politely.  
  
“Greetings command. I am the Royal Navy ironclad torpedo ram, HMS Thunderchild” she girl said, politely, finishing her bow.  
  
Lelouch was, well, rather confused right now. Thunderchild was the name of a fictional vessel from H.G. Wells novel, the war of the worlds. She shouldn't be here, she shouldn't even exist.  
  
“Why are you here, Thunderchild?” Hood asked, sounding slightly annoyed.  
  
Good question, why was she here.  
  
“Dreadnought sent me here to act as the fleets command ship” Thunderchild replied with a slight smile “I've just had a retrofit done, so I'm just as fast as the rest of the destroys. And I have emergency command systems installed into my ship, so it can be used as a backup command ship when a proper one isn't available” she explained.  
  
Hood grumbled slightly “I see now why Dreadnought didn't tell me who she was sending,” she said quietly “This must be revenge for making her wear that butler bunny girl outfit, isn't it”.  
  
“Actually, it isn't. She said so herself” Thunderchild said with a rather large smile “She sent me because I was the only one available. If she really wanted to get you back for that, then she would have made you wear that very skimpy maid outfit and make you be her personal maid for the day” she said, watching with glee as Hood's face lit up red. She then turned to Lelouch “So your the new commander” she said, looking him up and down “You look more like a merchant seaman”.  
  
“That's because I was a merchant seaman before,” Lelouch said, ignoring most of what was previously said “Lelouch Lamperouge. Royal merchant navy, and now commander in the Royal Navy,” he said, “You wouldn't happen to have a shaving kit on board your ship, perchance?”.  
  
“Ur, sorry, no I don't” Thunderchild replied, “Nobody told me to bring one,” she said, “And yes, I know I'm a ship from a fictional book, please don't ask me about it. I really do not like talking about my fictional origins”.  
  
Lelouch looked at her with a confused look before turning to Hood “How did you-”.  
  
“Create her,” Hood said before she sighed “Let's just some someone thought that it would be a good idea to make a ship that never existed in real life. It didn't exactly go to plan, but it did help create the foundation of the PR ship development program” she said, “Which is different as it's developing ships that only ever existed on paper, not in fictional story's”.  
  
“Yes, thank you for telling him that,” Thunderchild said sounding annoyed “So can we please never speak of project Thunderchild again around me”.  
  
“Fine. As long as you don't call me auntie” Hood said with a hint of annoyance in her voice.  
  
“Deal,” Thunderchild said before she walked over to Lelouch “Now then, commander,” she said before she effortlessly picked him up “To my glorious ship,” she said before she jumped off of HMS Hood and landed on the deck of her ship.  
  
“Ok, that was, new” Lelouch said as Thunderchild put him down on the deck of her ship. It felt very strange to not only get picked up by a child but also carried by said child as she jumped from one ship to another “How strong are you kansen?” he asked.  
  
“Very strong,” Thunderchild said as she lead Lelouch into her ship “Even without our rigging on we are much stronger than the average human,” she said as she lead him into what looked like a command room that was full of computes and tables with maps on them, and had a lot of Manjuu inside as well “And here's the command room. Sadly we only have Manjuu to operate everything in here as no human crew could be spared,” she said as they walked in.  
  
Lelouch walked towards one of the tables. Underneath all the maps was a screen with a map of the surrounding sea on it, as well as what looked like the real-time location of every ship in the fleet “I think I can work with this” he said calmly before looking around “Although this will be my first time working with Manjuu” he said as one of the birds in question walked past him.  
  
“Oh don't worry, you'll be fine,” Thunderchild said with a smile “You'll get used to the little guys. Although if I was you, I'll keep everything locked, as they tend to get into places that their not supposed to be in. Like my underwear draw”.  
  
“Yeah, I can see that happening,” Lelouch said, “Well, might as well get to work on the battle plan. Tell me, what information do we have on the Bismarck and her escort fleet?”.  
  
“Everything you need about all the ships in our fleet is in that filing cabinet over there,” Thunderchild said, pointing at a filing cabinet in the corner of the room “We don't know much about Bismarck herself, the Ironblood kept a lot of her statistics a secret. But we do know the number of ships their brining. The battleship Bismarck herself, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, and a small fleet of mass-produced ship”.  
  
“That's it,” Lelouch said sounding surprised “That's a rather small force for such an important kansen” he said.  
  
“Agreed, it is a small force,” Thunderchild said “They're probably trying to sneak her into the Atlantic, so a small force would be harder to detect than a large fleet. If she does get into the Atlantic, then she could cause some serious damage to our merchant ships”.  
  
“It would be a massacre,” Lelouch said, looking over some of the flies that were on the table “We must do everything in our power to make sure that doesn't happen. Bismarck must not be allowed to enter the Atlantic”.  
  
“Exactly,” Thunderchild said “Well, you've got a good grasp of the situation, so I'll leave you to develop the plan of battle,” she said before she politely bowed before leaving the room.  
  
Lelouch smiled as he went to work, looking through all the available information he had on the ships under his command, as well as the ships he'll be facing. There was a bit more information on Prinz Eugen then there was on Bismarck, but it would be enough to develop a rudimentary plan to combat them.  
  
“Well then, Bismarck,” he said as he looked at a picture of the battleship in question “Let's see how well you fair against me”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who are curious, the ship HMS Thunderchild in this story is based on the design developed by Drachinifel (video in question https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQBund8uLmo).


	7. Chapter 7

Bismarck sighed as a cool sea breeze blew past her. She was standing at the front of her ship, watching the sea in front of her. KMS Prinz Eugen was sailing ahead of her. Her own radar had suffered a fault, so Eugen moved ahead of the formation with the rest of the mass-produced fleet.  
  
“Something on your mind?” Prinz Eugen asked over comms. Out of all the Ironblood kansen, Eugen was one of the few who could see through her posturing.  
  
“Yes, there is” Bismarck replied, “It's my sister, Tirpitz. She's being manifested today. I wanted to be there for her, yet I'm out here raiding Royal Navy shipping lanes”.  
  
“Ah yes, I almost forgot that was today,” Eugen said “Kansen manifestation can be a difficult process, and have to be monitored closely. If things go badly, it could end up causing problems for the Kansen in question,” she said, causing Bismarck to worry about the well-being of her sister “Don't worry, your sister will be fine. Manifestation problems are rather rare these days, so I doubt your sister will suffer from any problems”.  
  
“I just hope your right” Bismarck sighed. She would hate for anything to happen to her sister before she had the chance to meet her in person.  
  
“Contact!” Eugen said over the radio “One royal navy mass-produced destroyer, dead ahead”.  
  
A single destroyer, and a mass-produced one at that. What was the royal navy planning by sending a single mass-produced destroyer at them? It wouldn't last long against them, hell, it wouldn't last long against Eugen. It was probably a spotter for a much larger fleet, so getting rid of it as soon as possible was a priority.  
  
“A single destroyer, not even a kansen” Bismarck said sounding unimpressed “Whoever's in command of that ship must be an idiot,” she said, “Eugen, deal with it quickly”.  
  
“Verstanden!” Eugen said before her ship was surrounded by a blue glow, it then disappeared into a swarm of blue cubes which formed around Eugen, quickly turning into her rigging “Now then, let's have some fun” she said before she skated off across the sea towards the destroyer.  
  
She skimmed past the small fleet of friendly mass-produced ship, skimming quickly towards the target ship. She noticed that it started to move to the left just before she entered weapons range, exposing its side armour to her. She didn't know why it was doing that, as it would make it easier for her to destroy it.  
  
Oh well, one more kill for her.  
  
She fired her main guns at the destroyer several times, a few shots missed, but the majority were on target, and soon the destroyer began to sink below the waves. Strangely enough, it started letting out smoke as it sank, which was strange as mass-produced ships didn't have smoke launches.  
  
She looked at the smoke with suspicions eyes. Moments later her suspicions were confirmed as more smoke started to form, and the smoke started to move towards the rest of the fleet.  
  
There was a kansen in that smoke.  
  
“Bismarck!. New contact, enemy destroyer hiding in smoke, making their way towards you!” Eugen shouted over the radio.  
  
“What!. Where the hell did that come from?” Bismarck asked as she activated her rigging.  
  
“It must have been hiding on board the mass-produced destroyer” Eugen replied as she quickly followed. That would explain why it turned to the side, the destroyer it was carrying could jump off undetected on the other side whilst she was engaging it “I'll try to intercept them-, oh fuck!” she exclaimed just as she saw several torpedoes heading her way. She quickly moved to dodge them, but one of them struck her, hitting her propeller and slowing her down considerably.  
  
“Eugen, are you alright?” Bismarck asked sounding concerned for her college.  
  
“I'm fine. Minor damage sustained” Eugen replied calmly “Although I have lost a propeller, so I won't be able to catch up with the enemy destroyer,” she said, “Although I doubt a single destroyer will be a problem for you”.  
  
Bismarck could hear the smug grin Eugen had “Just get back here ASAP. Command saw fit to give me an emergency repair kit, so I might be able to fix it” she said as she aimed her cannons at the smoke, ready to destroy the destroyer when it leaves the safety of it's growing smoke screen.  
  
This was a rather interesting tactic being deployed by the royal navy here. Using a mass-produced ship to cover a kansen was almost unheard of, no one's ever tried it before. But whoever was behind this plan wasn't very good as one destroyer was not enough to defeat her. She almost felt sorry for the poor girl she was about to sink.  
  
She pointed her guns at the smoke, ready to fire at the poor destroyer who was about to leave the smoke. Seconds later a single destroyer skated out of the smoke, immediately followed by five more destroyers in a scattered formation. Swerving from side to side to avoid the incoming fire from the mass-produced ships.  
  
“Oh, shit!” Bismarck exclaimed, her eyes shooting wide open as the six destroyers closed in on the small escort fleet “Eugen, get back here now, we're dealing with more than one destroyer” she said as she fired her main guns at one of the destroyers, but missed.  
  
“I'm going as fast as I can-, Behind you!” Eugen shouted.  
  
Bismarck turned just in time to see several high-explosive rounds heading towards her. She quickly moved to the side to avoid the shells. But one hit home, hitting her rigging and destroying her radar.  
  
“Where the hell did that come from?” Bismarck said, looking around to see where the shots came from.  
  
Then she saw them. Five more royal navy vessels coming up behind her. Two heavy cruisers, one battlecruiser, one battleship, and what looked like Thunderchild?. What was she doing out here?  
  
The battleship started to panic. The royal navy had caught her a pincer manoeuvrer between a fleet of destroyers, and another fleet of heavy ships.  
  
She took everything back about the command of this fleet, he wasn't an idiot, he was a Gott Verdammt tactical mastermind.  
  
Who the hell was in command of this fleet? 

  


Royal navy fleet.  
  
Lelouch smiled as he watched the battle unfold from the deck of HMS Thunderchild. His plan was going well, very well. His initial plan was to pincer the Ironblood fleet between his fleet and Norfolk and Suffolk, but a storm put an end to that plan as his destroyers had to turn back to avoid flooding. It didn't help that the Ironblood fleet had mover further west than previously thought, thanks to Norfolk and Suffolk losing them for a bit, so they ended up meeting them side-on.  
  
He had two choices, attack them head-on, or meet up with Norfolk and Suffolk and wait for the destroyers to return. He chose the latter option, as he would rather fight with every ship under his command, than just two ships.  
  
He was lucky that the destroyer fleet managed to acquire a mass-produced destroyer. He wouldn't have been able to pull off this plan, hell, he wouldn't be able to do this if he was commanding normal ships. These kansen allowed him to try a few unorthodox tactics that normally couldn't be used. Still, it was surprising that the plan was working far better then it should have. Maybe it's because it's never been done before, so they probably didn't see it coming until it was too late.  
  
“Good work destroyers,” he said with a smile “Maintain your momentum and keep moving from side to side unpredictably. Don't use your torpedoes on the mass-produced ships, save them for Bismarck” he ordered calmly “Hood, Prince of Wales, maintain your bombardment on Bismarck. Force her to use her main guns on you, that should leave her with her secondary weapons to use on the destroyers. Norfolk, Suffolk, maintain your approach, prepare to mop up any surviving mass-produced ships then meet up with the destroyers for another pass. The more damage we do to her now the better”.  
  
All the kansen under his command replied with a yes sir before carrying out their assigned orders. Hood and Prince of Wales continued to fire at Bismarck, shelling her with regular and high-explosive rounds. The Ironblood battleship responded by firing back at Hood with her main guns. The destroyers skated through the Ironblood mass-produced ships, firing at them with their main guns and sinking several of them and damaging the rest as they passed. They skated past Bismarck at a relatively safe distance, dumping all of their loaded torpedoes at the battleship before they retreated towards Norfolk and Suffolk. They took some damage from her secondary batteries, but her main guns were focused solely on Hood.  
  
Norfolk and Suffolk met up with the destroyers before they came into range of the mass-produced ships, but that didn't affect the plan much. The Ironblood ships were in disarray, Bismarck was taking heavy damage, Eugen was still making her way back to the now decimated fleet, and the kansen under his command have only sustained light damage.  
  
If everything went as planned, Bismarck should be dealt with before Eugen could return to support her.

  


Bismarck grunted as she fired her main and secondary guns again, damaging several destroyers but not crippling any of them. It was almost annoying how easy the Royal Navy had tricked her, distracting her with an unassuming foe that carried a much larger force. The damage to Eugen's propeller was a luckily hit, and it no doubt annoyed the normally smug heavy cruiser.  
  
She would have fallen back to Eugen, but the destroyers had crippled her with their torpedoes. Her propulsion was completely gone, leaving her a sitting duck.  
  
The Royal Navy bombardment of her was brutal and unrelenting, made even more brutal by the previous torpedo bombardment she just suffered from. She barely had time to dodge them all, resulting in a lot of them hitting her. The shells were even worse, most didn't hit their mark, but a few did hit her, damaging or destroying key systems and leaving her even more vulnerable.  
  
Another barrage and another shell hit her, this time directly in the face. She screamed in pain as she clutched her face, covering her left eye which was bleeding. She looked back up at the Royal Navy fleet, the destroyers and heavy cruisers were coming round for another pass, destroying what was left of the mass-produced fleet.  
  
“How. How could this happen” Bismarck said as she watched the remaining mass-produced ships sink “The royals don't have anyone this good, not any more at least. Who in command of this fleet?”.  
  
“Bismarck,” Eugen said over the radio “Just hold on for a bit longer, I'm almost with you,” she said.  
  
Bismarck almost smiled. Despite her smug attitude, Eugen could be relied upon to back her up, it's why she was her second in command after all.  
  
But, deep down inside of her, she knew Eugen would not get to her in time. She had been heavily damaged, her rigging was almost destroyed, her uniform was in tatters, and her body was covered in cuts and gashes. There was very little chance of her coming out of this alive.  
  
Indeed, as she looked up she saw a massive barrage heading her way. Hood's 'Royal Navy's Glory' by the looks of it, aimed directly at her.  
  
She closed her eyes, and fired off one last salvo “My sister... I'm sorry that... I won't ever be able to meet you...” she said before the shells hit her, one of them piercing her armour and detonating her magazine.

  


Hood gasped as another shell hit her, ripping off one of her turrets. Bismarck's retaliation fire was relentless and heavy and was focused directly at Hood herself. She did not know why Bismarck singled her out, but she couldn't blame her for focusing on her. It was either her or Prince of Wales, and she could only choose one.  
  
Hood fired off another salvo at Bismarck, watching as the shells flew towards their target. Completely missing the shells that were coming towards here.  
  
The shells struck her hard, the AP rounds smashing straight through her armour and causing heavy damage to her.  
  
“Hood, are you alright?” Lelouch asked over comms, his voice was full of concern “You've sustained heavy damage”.  
  
“I can still fight” Hood replied, brushing the blood off of her lips.  
  
“Are you sure? I'll rather not lose you to a lucky hit” Lelouch said.  
  
Hood smiled. It was nice to hear that he was concerned about her. Very few commanders cared about the well-being of the kansen under their command.  
  
He would make a very good commander of the Azur Lane.  
  
“Don't worry about me, Lelouch. I've been through far worse then this” Hood said.  
  
“I'll take your word on that” Lelouch said “Hood. Fire one more salvo at Bismarck, then retreat back to Thunderchild”.  
  
“As you wish, commander,” Hood said as she fired one last salvo at Bismarck, firing off her 'Royal Navy's Glory' barrage as well. She then turned around to retreat back to Thunderchild but stopped when she saw a salvo heading her way. She turned to face them, and let them hit her.  
  
“May I finally be able to put down this crown of thorns,” she said as the shells hit her, piercing her armour and detonating her magazine.

  


“Hood!!” Thunderchild shouted from the deck of her ship as she saw the two large explosions caused by two ships magazine's exploding. One from Bismarck, and the other from Hood.  
  
Lelouch slowly lowered his binoculars as he watched the smoke rise from where Hood once was. Shocked by what had happened.  
  
“Commander,” Prince of Wales said over the comms, her voice was full of fear and concern “W-what happened to Hood?”.  
  
“She-. Bismarck and Hood shot each others magazine, causing them to explode” Lelouch said solemnly over the comm “They took each other-”.  
  
“Incoming!” Thunderchild shouted loudly.  
  
Lelouch barely had time to react before the ship shook violently from the hit, forcing him to grab the side rail of the ship “What hit us?” he asked as he turned towards Thunderchild.  
  
Thunderchild turned around to face the back of her ship “I do not-. Hood!” she shouted before she rushed towards her main gun.  
  
Lelouch turned to see her main gun now had a large dent in its turret, and he was shocked to see what had caused it. Hood's broken and bloody body had smashed into the turret. Her rigging had been completely destroyed, and her clothing had been reduced to rags.  
  
He rushed over to her, reaching her a few seconds after Thunderchild “Hang in there Hood, I've got you” Thunderchild said as she pulled Hood out of the dent and laid her out on the deck of her ship.  
  
Several of the ships Manjuu quickly rushed off towards the inside of the ship to gather medical equipment.  
  
Lelouch checked her pulse. She was still alive, just barely. She would need immediate medical attention.  
  
“Hang in there Hood,” Lelouch said as a group of Manjuu with nurse hats on arrived with a large amount of medical equipment “We've got you,” he said as the Manjuu started applying bandages to her body.  
  
Hood's eyes slowly opened “Lelouch, I'm so sorry, for disobeying your order,” Hood said slowly, just barely hanging on to life “I am just, so, so, tired of this war. This would be, so much easier, if we were all, merely, weapons,” she said before her eyes closed, and she slid into unconsciousness.  
  
“No!. Hood!. Don't you die on me!” Thunderchild cried, tears falling from her eyes as she grabbed Hood's shoulders.  
  
Lelouch quickly grabbed Thunderchild and pulled her away from Hood before she could accidental cause her more harm “Hay hay hay. Calm down Thunderchild” he said, trying to calm her down “Hood will be fine, I promise. But you could end up causing more harm to her if you treat her like that” he said calmly “Let the Manjuu work on healing her, ok. We still have a battle to-” he said before the ship shook violently again.  
  
“Torpedoes!” Thunderchild as she stood back up “But Eugen isn't in range”.  
  
“U-boat, U-boat, U-boat!” Prince of Wales shouted over the comms just as HMS Thunderchild was hit again. Another torpedo to the side of the ship.  
  
Lelouch rushed to the side of the ship, catching a short of one of the U-boats who was firing at them before it hid below the waves. Off in the distance, he could see Prince of Wales getting harassed by torpedoes, focusing all of her attention on dodging the swarm of torpedoes that surrounded her.  
  
He scowled as the ship was hit with another torpedo. Looks like the 'Suzaku' finally arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I, U-556, hereby declare before Neptune, Lord over oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, brooks, ponds, and rivulets, 
> 
> that I will provide any desired assistance to my ally and Lord, battleship Bismarck, 
> 
> at any place on the water, under water, on land, or in the air.
> 
> Signed: U-556, Parzival of The Seas


	8. Chapter 8

U-556 moved quickly through the water, hidden below the waves and ignoring the battle that was raging above her.  
  
“Target hit, target hit” she heard U-557 report over comms, confirming another hit “Two hits on Thunderchild”.  
  
She ignored the comm chatter from her sisters, for as much as she would have like to participate in the battle, she was focusing on something far more important.  
  
“Copy that 557,” U-81 said over comms “Preparing for another attack run on Prince of Wales”.  
  
The water around her was cold and devoid of life. All the surrounding sea life had fled when the first shells fired. She wasn't bothered by the cold, for she was a U-boat of the Ironblood. She was made to endure such cold temperatures. But the waters felt exceptionally colder today.  
  
“Stay just below the water and focus on harassing the command ship and Prince of Wales” U-96 advised, “We have to divert that destroyer and cruiser fleet away from Bismarck”.  
  
Bismarck, the legendary battleship and leader of the Ironblood, and her lord. She swore an oath to Neptune himself that she would protect lord Bismarck from danger, no matter where she encountered it. So when she detected a distress signal coming from Prinz Eugen, she rushed towards the source, as Eugen was sailing with Bismarck.  
  
“Welcome to the hornet's nest, Royals,” U-81 said as she and U-96 started their next attack run on Wales.  
  
She was glad she rushed towards the signal, as when she arrived she saw Bismarck getting hammered by a fleet of Royal Navy ships, with Eugen being heavily damaged and separated from the mighty battleship. She was just about to issue an attack order before she saw Bismarck explode, her magazine detonating.  
  
“Target hit, target hit-, oh fuck” U-96 said panicky over the comms “Oh fuck that was a close one”.  
  
Lucky for her, one of the ships of the royal navy also had their magazine detonate.  
  
“What happened?” U-557 asked.  
  
Hood also went up in a massive explosion, destroying her and leaving the rest of the fleet in disorderly.  
  
“Wales just shot at me with her main guns” U-96 replied, “She missed, but she was bloody close to hitting me”.  
  
Which left the command ship and Prince of Wales open and vulnerable to their counter-attack.  
  
“Destroyer fleet closing in on us,” U-81 said, alerting the others to the approaching destroyers.  
  
The U-boats attack was relentless, striking the vulnerable ships and forcing the destroyers and cruisers to fall back to protect them, lest they lose them too.  
  
“Do we have time for one more attack run?” U-557 asked.  
  
Whilst the royals were distracted by the rest of her wolfpack, U-556 was free to rescue Bismarck.  
  
“We'll try. But do prepare to fall back once they start throwing depth charges at us” U-96 replied.  
  
She wasn't going to fail her. She was not going to let her lord Bismarck sink, not whilst she could still do something.  
  
“Making my last attack run on Thunderchild,” U-557 said.  
  
She promised her, she promised Bismarck that she would help her.  
  
“Their throwing depth charges at me!” U-81 shouted as several depth charges detonated around her.  
  
And there was nothing in this universe that would stop her from fulfilling that promise.  
  
“All U-boats, fall back!” U-96 ordered, “We've done everything we could. Let's hope it's enough”.  
  
She wouldn't fail her.  
  
“...Lord Bismarck?”

  


“All destroyers and cruisers, fall back to the main fleet and destroy those U-boats!” Lelouch ordered as Thunderchild was struck by another torpedo.  
  
“Copy that!. All ships, fall back to the main fleet!” Icarus responded “What about Eugen?” she asked.  
  
“Ignore her, we can deal with her later!” Lelouch replied, “We need to deal with these U-boats now before they sink us!”.  
  
“Yes sir,” Icarus said.  
  
“Ur, why are we falling back as well?” Norfolk asked nervously “We don't have any anti-submarine equipment”.  
  
“You're falling back as well because without the destroyers covering you, you'll become prime targets for those U-boats” Lelouch replied, “Besides, you'll be no match against Eugen without battleship support. So get back here quickly”.  
  
“Copy that sir,” Norfolk said nervously.  
  
Lelouch quickly turned to Thunderchild “Thunderchild, get Hood inside. It's not safe for her out here!”.  
  
“Rodger” Thunderchild said before she rushed over to Hood and picked her up. Several of the Manjuu helped her, some with carrying her, others with clearing the way.  
  
Once Hood was inside his focus shifted to Prince of Wales, who was panicking as she was harassed by two U-boats.  
  
“Lelouch Help me!” Prince of Wales shouted as she was hit by another torpedo “I don't know how to deal with U-boats!”.  
  
“Wales, calm down. The destroyers are on route to help us” Lelouch said, trying his best to calm the battleship down “Make your way towards the destroyers and let deal with the U-boats for you”.  
  
“I'll try sir,” Wales said nervously, quickly changing course towards the destroyer fleet. He could tell that she was new to war, this was probably her first real battle. He couldn't blame her for panicking. Not everyone is capable of keeping a level head during a battle, especially when things go pear-shaped.  
  
“Commander,” Thunderchild said over comms “Hood's in the ships medical bay and is being looked after by the Manjuu. But she's not in good condition. We're going to have to make port as soon as possible if we want to save her,” she said, sounding clearly distressed.  
  
“Copy that” Lelouch responded before the ship shook again, another torpedo hit “Destroyers, how long till you enter depth charge range?” he asked, griping to the side rail to help maintain his balance.  
  
“Just entering it now, sir” Icarus replied. Sure enough, he could see the destroyers and cruisers come into view.  
  
They split off into three groups. The two cruisers protected by two destroyers, with the remaining four destroyers splitting off into groups of two, one to protect Prince of Wales, the other to protect Thunderchild.  
  
The destroyers started launching depth charges at the surrounding U-boat, detonating them beneath the waves. He had no idea if any of them had scored any hits, but seeing that they were not being hit by any more torpedoes, they were obviously being driven off.  
  
“Their retreating. The U-boats are retreating” Icarus reported.  
  
“Good work destroyers,” Lelouch said, “But it's not over yet. Everyone reorganise and prepare to attack Eugen. We finishing this”.  
  
“Ur, sir. We may have a problem with Eugen” Norfolk said.  
  
Lelouch quickly raised his binoculars and used them to look at Eugen, and could not believe what he was seeing “You have got to be kidding me”.

  


Eugen cursed as she slowly made her way towards the royal navy fleet, hell-bent on getting revenge for the sinking of Bismarck. The damage to her was only light after all. She was only moving so slow because of a lucky hit on her propellers.  
  
If it hadn't been for that lucky hit, she might have been able to save her.  
  
The destroyers and cruisers were falling back towards the main fleet. She couldn't tell why they were regrouping now, not when they could quite easily charge towards her to finish her off. No matter, they would be coming for her soon anyway, and whilst she couldn't take on all of them, she could still take a few of them out with her.  
  
At least she didn't have Hood to deal with any more.  
  
The water beside her suddenly rippled, and a familiar blue-haired U-boat rose up out of the water.  
  
“U-556!” Eugen said sounding surprised “What are you-” she said before she noticed the heavily damaged body of Bismarck, laying on her rigging “Bismarck!”.  
  
“She's alive, but only just,” U-556 said, tears falling from her eyes “I need you to take her so I can switch to my ship. I can't transport her back safely like this”.  
  
Eugen nodded and quickly picked up Bismarck. U556 then started to move away from them, her rigging glowing blue. Moments later it transformed back into a full-sized type VII U-boat.  
  
The top hatch quickly opened, and U-556 poked her head out “Get in quick. We don't have much time, and my sisters are already retreating” she said.  
  
Eugen wasted no time in jumping onto the ship and clambering down into it. It wasn't easy to get in, especially when she was carrying a barley alive Bismarck and still had her rigging on. But she managed.  
  
Once inside U-556 closed the main hatch, she then dived the U-boat beneath the waves and proceeded away from the royal navy fleet.  
  
Eugen quickly placed Bismarck down on one of the beds. There were several of them near the middle of the ship, built into the side of the hull. They weren't the best to sleep in, but they will have to do.  
  
“Will she be alright?” U-556 asked, tears still falling from her eyes. She was holding a medical and repair kit in her hands, holding them out to Eugen.  
  
“She will be” Eugen replied, taking the medical and repair kit “But we have to make port as soon as possible”.  
  
“Don't worry, we're already on route to friendly waters” U-556 said, “It will take a while, but we should get to a friendly port quickly”.  
  
“Good,” Eugen said before she set about healing Bismarck. There wasn't much she could do to help the battleship, apart from keeping her together. Her clothing was all but gone, her rigging was almost completely destroyed, and her body was covered in blood. She would need more than a repair kit to save her “I suggest you focus on getting us to safety. We can't afford for the royal navy the pursue us like this”.  
  
“Don't worry, I'll make sure Lord Bismarck reaches port safely” U-556 said before she turned around and walked to the control room. Turning back to look at Bismarck only last time before she left the room.  
  
Eugen focused on treating Bismarck's wounds, she wasn't an expert on healing people, so she might make a few mistakes here and there. Hopefully, she didn't cause more damage to her whilst fixing her.  
  
U-556 would never forgive her if Bismarck were to die here.

  


Lelouch scowled as he watched Prinz Eugen climb into the U-boat with Bismarck “Damn, the U-boat's weren't trying to attack us, they were distracting us” he said as the U-boat dived beneath the waves “They knew I would recall the destroyers to deal with them. I gave them a clear opening to recover both ships”.  
  
“Commander, what do we do about the fleeing U-boat's?” Icarus asked.  
  
Lelouch sighed. Had the circumstances been different, he would have persuaded them. But Prince of Wales and Thunderchild had been heavily damaged by torpedoes, and Hood was in desperate need of medical help. Plus the destroyers and cruisers had all taken a lot of damage from Bismarck's secondary battery's. The entire fleet was in need of repairs, and he couldn't afford to lose any ships to any more ships to enemy ambushes “Let them flee” he said over comms “We're in no state to purse them at this current time, especially with Hood in critical condition. We need to make port as soon as possible for repairs”.  
  
“Copy that commander,” Icarus said before all the kansen in the fleet returned to formation and sailed directly towards the nearest friendly port, deactivating their rigging and retuning them to ship form.  
  
He turned to face the directing the U-boats were fleeing. They may think they have won this day, but truth be told, he was the victor. Even if Bismarck survives this day, she would be out of action for several months, and her rigging would require even longer to repair. Yes, Hood was barely alive, but if he was lucky, they would make port before it was too late to save her. But she wasn't the leader of the royal navy, Bismarck, on the other hand, was the leader of the Ironblood. Her loss would hit them hard. They would suffer dearly without her, whilst the royal navy would, at worst, suffer a significant moral loss from what happened to Hood.  
  
He looked down at his feet, there was a gold necklace resting against his shoe. He picked it up. It was a gold chain with a bright blue gemstone hanging off of it, with the word 'Hood' written above it on a small gold bar.  
  
He put the necklace into one of his pockets. It obviously belongs Hood, so he would have to give it back to her once she recovers. That's is, if she recovers.


	9. Chapter 9

“So, Hood's going to survive,” Lelouch said, sitting down at a finely crafted desk. Opposite him was the owner of the desk, the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship, HMS Valiant.  
  
Valiant was a short girl, not even the size of a full adult. He kind of expected the battleship to be like Hood, tall like an adult, but she looked like she was a child. Yet despite her childish looks, she held an air of authority similar to her sister Cornelia. Well, almost similar, she didn't know how to put the fear of God into people.  
  
“Yep, she'll survive,” Valiant said with a smile “We're lucky that you brought her back so quickly. She might not have survived had you chosen to purse Bismarck and the fleeing U-boats” she added.  
  
“I couldn't risk pursuing them. The fleet had taken too much damage from both attacks, and I couldn't afford to lose any more ships to future attacks” Lelouch said, “Besides, Hood's injuries took priority. Her death might not have been taken well by the public”.  
  
“Agreed, she is the glory of the royal navy after all. Her death would affect us all” Valiant said, lowering her head slightly “But seeing that she has been brought back for treatment, she should be fine, in a few months that is. Her injuries are rather serious” she said. She then perked up a bit and smiled “But that's enough of that. So in other news high command is pleased with your work. Bismarck may not have been suck, but she will be out of action for a very long time, maybe even longer than Hood. She won't be causing us any problems in the near future”.  
  
Lelouch smiled “That's good to hear,” he said “That should keep our sea's safe for a while,” he said.  
  
“Indeed it should,” Valiant said “With any luck, they'll reduce the number of navy operations they conduct against us. Like Hood was the pride of our navy, Bismarck was theirs,” she said “So, um, I can't help but notice that you're still wearing your merchant navy uniform,” she said, looking at his mess of a uniform.  
  
“Well, I was never issued a new one,” Lelouch said “Plus I still haven't had a shave or haircut,” he said, brushing a hand over his mess of a face. His hair was a complete mess, and facial hair didn't suit him.  
  
“Yes, well Hood's report did say you were recovered from an island after your ship was sunk,” Valiant said, “How long were you on that island anyway?”.  
  
“I don't remember” Lelouch replied, “I kind of lost track of time whilst I was stuck there”.  
  
“Well, no matter. We can have you cleaned up before your audience with my sister, Queen Elizabeth. She'll completely lose it if you go to her dressed like that” Valiant said before she pressed a button on the side of her desk “Glasgow, you can send Colossus and Hercules in now” she said.  
  
The door to Valiant's office opened and in walked two adult woman, both of whom were dressed like butlers, and had rather noticeable bustlines.  
  
The one on the left was slightly taller than the other and had dark grey hair and brown eyes. The other had light brown hair and red eyes. Their hair was short and uniform, and their uniforms were smooth and clean, and they held themselves with a level of professionalism that could only be expected from a butler.  
  
“HMS Colossus and Hercules. The last first-generation battleships to be built, butlers of the royal navy, and trained by Dreadnought herself” Valiant said as the two walked up to the desk, stopping just behind him “They will be cleaning you and providing you with a new uniform, one befitting of a commander of the Royal Navy!”.  
  
“Lelouch Lamperouge” to one to his left, Colossus, said politely “Would you kindly follow us please,” she said.  
  
Lelouch nodded and got up, following the two women out of the room and into the corridor. There weren't many people in the corridor, only one or two maids cleaning. He was surprised to see Prince of Wales waiting for him.  
  
“Lelouch,” Wales said, walking up to him. The three stopped so she could talk to him “I'm sorry if I acted like a child during the last battle. Truth be told, that was my first real battle, and I panicked under fire” she said, “I'm sorry if I caused you any problems”.  
  
“Do not worry yourself about it, even the strongest of people can fold under unexpected circumstances” Lelouch said “I've seen it happen plenty of times. Even happened to myself a few times” he said with a smile “So don't beat yourself up over it. It's happened to the best of us”.  
  
Prince of Wales smiled “Thank you commander” she said, “It's not often that our commanders reassure us after we make a mistake. Most of the time they don't say anything at all”.  
  
“We're lucky that we don't have anyone from the Eagle Union commanding us,” Hercules said, “Their commanders are downright terrible to the kansen under their command. Their high command only ignore it as they tend to get results”.  
  
“Hopefully that will change when you take command of the Azur Lane. All their commanders will have to do what you tell them to do” Colossus said with a slight smile “Well, that's if you get appointed. The Eagle Union and Sakura Empire will also try to put one of their own in command of the AL” she said, “You'll have to look your best if you want the be the commander of the AL”.  
  
“Well, if there's anyone who can make you look good, it's Colossus and Hercules,” Wales said, “Colossus personalty tailored all the uniforms worn by the Royal Navy kansen, and Hercules is a master barber. I've had her cut my hair a few times”.  
  
“Well I have had a lot of time to practice,” Hercules said with a slight smile “But we won't be able to get him ready for his audience with Queen Elizabeth in time if we stand here and talk,” she said  
  
“Oh, right. My apologies” Wales said “I'll talk to you later then, commander” she said before she turned around and walked away.  
  
“Come, let us go fix that mess of a face of yours,” Colossus said, walking down the corridor along with Hercules. He followed them, as he desperately needed a shave and a hair cut.

  


Throne room, later that day.  
  
Queen Elizabeth sat comfortably on her royal throne, waiting patiently for the new commander, Lelouch Lamperouge, to arrive. Besides her was her sister Valiant, and her most loyal knight, Warspite. There were several others there as well, Dreadnought was also there, standing beside the head maid herself, Belfast. There was also King George V, Prince of Wales, Duke of York, Illustrious, and the maids, Hermione, Sheffield, and Edinburgh, as well as several other kansen. There were also two Royal Marines standing either side of the main door to the room.  
  
She was the queen of the Royal Navy after all. It always paid to have a lot of subordinates around, just to show off the power you have at your disposal.  
  
She had read reports on the new commander, how he was recovered from an island, how commanded a small fleet in humiliating a siren, several after-action reports from the battle of the Denmark Strait, and Hood's personal report on the boy.  
  
He may be only a young adult, but according to Hood, his command ability was unquestionably good. Bismarck didn't stand a chance against him, especially when he pulled off that strategy of having several destroyers ride onboard a mass-produce ship. She never saw that one before, and she doubted that Bismarck would have seen that coming.  
  
She can see that tactic being used in the future, especially with Lelouch in command.  
  
The large double doors opposite her opened, and she quickly sat up. Colossus and Hercules walked in, along with a third person, a young man wearing Royal Navy command uniform.  
  
Elizabeth blushed slightly at the sight of him. Despite him looking about eighteen or nineteen, he was very attractive. His raven hair was short and neat, and his face looks soft and clean. His purple eyes were like amethysts and had an almost hypnotic feel to them. But it was the way he held himself that caught her attention the most, like the way he walked. He walked not like a normal person, but like royalty, with all the confidence that entails.  
  
He could easily be mistaken for Ark Royals brother, had the carrier been born human.  
  
He stopped a few feet before her “Greetings your majesty” he said with a polite bow, and not a sloppy one, his was perfect. Even the way he bowed his head was spot on “I am Lelouch Lamperouge. Newest commander of the Royal Navy. And a loyal servant to you, your majesty” he said with a smile, looking back up at her as he straightened himself out.  
  
Elizabeth's blush got redder and redder, she did not expect him to be so, so, charming, with a polite demeanour to bout. Whilst his uniform looked a size too big for him, it was kind of expected as they didn't have any command uniforms for someone of his age. Still, she did not expect him to look or act remotely like this.  
  
None of the other royal navy commanders ever said they were loyal servants to her when she first met them or bowed before her.  
  
She quickly looked around with her eyes. Several of the other girls had similar reactions as hers, especially the girls who saw him before he was cleaned up, and they looked very surprised by the change. There were a few exceptions. Sheffield, as expected, didn't change at all. Duke of York looked like she was about to Ara Ara him, and Dreadnought of all people tugged at the hem of her collar.  
  
She quickly sorted herself out, and spoke “Greetings Lelouch. We have heard much about you, especially about your knowledge of navy combat,” she said calmly “Your plan to get a group of destroyers close to her quickly was very ingenious. I doubt that even our greatest commanders would have come up with something like that,” she said “I know Hood getting so grievously injured was unfortunate, but we are glad that you prioritised her recovery. Bismarck may have been a priority target, but losing Hood would have affected us all greatly. Thank you”.  
  
Lelouch smiled “Your welcome, your majesty,” he said, “Hood was the one who rescued me from that island. It was only fair that I repay her in kind”.  
  
“Indeed, and we are grateful that you did,” Elizabeth said before she lowered her head slightly “This war has hit all of us hard, Hood most of all. Operation catapult hit her hard. This should be a good opportunity for her to get some much-needed rest,” she said before she straightened herself out again “But that's enough talk about Hood. You're the main focus here,” she said with a smile “The admiralty has thankfully agreed to have you appointed as our candidate for the commander of the Azur Lane. They were greatly impressed by how you took out Bismarck, and expect great things from you”.  
  
“I'm glad to hear it,” Lelouch said, “I'm honestly surprised that no one's ever tried that tactic before. But then again, it probably wouldn't have worked as well as it did if people had tried it before”.  
  
“Well, we expect even greater plans and strategy's from you in the future,” Elizabeth said “We will be leaving for the main Azur Lane base at Pearl Harbor tomorrow morning, escorted by the first royal fleet. We still don't have a command ship available for your use. The admiralty is still refusing to provide us with one for your use. But no matter, we will hopefully have no need of a command ship for this voyage, so you will be transported there onboard one of our ships” she said. She then turned to Hermione “Hermione, I'll be entrusting you in looking after Lelouch. You will be his personal maid from now on, so, make sure to look after him, understood”.  
  
“Understood, your majesty” Hermione said with a bow “I'll make sure my ships limiter is active whilst he is onboard”.  
  
“Good. The last thing we need is a repeat of the first rigging activation incident” Elizabeth said before turning back to Lelouch “Lelouch, are you ok with having one of the Royal maids look after you?” she asked.  
  
“Indeed I am” Lelouch replied before looking at Hermione “In fact, I'm glad you've chosen Hermione. She was the one who helped me recover after I was rescued from that island”.  
  
“Exactly, that is why I'm appointing her as your personal maid. She's a friendly face who knows how to look after you” Elizabeth said, “Now I suggest that you get yourself ready to leave. We have a long journey ahead of us, and the sooner we're ready, the better”.  
  
“As you wish, your majesty,” Lelouch said with a polite bow. He then turned around, along with Colossus and Hercules, and proceeded to leave the room, followed out by Hermione.  
  
Once he had left the room, Elizabeth blushed heavily “Why did nobody tell me he was so charming?” she asked.  
  
“Well, we never saw him with such a clean face before” Prince of Wales replied, blushing slightly “He was a complete mess beforehand,” she said.  
  
“Well, I do have to say that Colossus and Hercules did a good job of cleaning him up,” Dreadnought said with a slight smile “I wouldn't expect anything less of them”.  
  
Duke of York smiled “His scent is so, dangerous and calm. And his eyes, it was like he could command me just by looking into them” she said.  
  
“Please sister, commanding people just by looking into their eyes?” King George V said “What is this, a Sakura Empire anime,” she said, “Still, I can't deny that he is rather attractive. Hood's report said he had a family, right?”.  
  
“He does” Sheffield replied as she got out a clipboard with some paper on it “According to Hood, he had a father, mother, and sister. All killed in separate Siren attacks”.  
  
Everyone lowered their heads at the news. More unfortunate souls lost to the Sirens. The sooner this pointless war was over, the sooner they could go back to their primary mission, to fight the Sirens.  
  
It annoyed Elizabeth that even when besieged by an alien foe, the humans who created them could still find the time and reason to kill each other.  
  
“Any luck in finding out who they were?” Illustrious asked sombrely.  
  
“No. We have had no luck in finding any family with the surname Lamperouge” Sheffield replied “It is possible that he changed his name after he was abandoned by his father, and sent to Japan” she said “Also we have been unable to determine the ship he used to serve on. Several merchant navy ships have gone down in that area during the past few months, but we have no idea which one he served on. The companies who owned those ships got rid of the crew manifests of the ships lost in the area”.  
  
“Seriously!” Elizabeth said sounding annoyed “I thought we told them to stop doing that?”.  
  
“Indeed we did. But the records for the ships in question were accidentally destroyed due to a communication error” Sheffield replied.  
  
Elizabeth sighed “Oh well, the info you have gathered will do. You have our thanks, Sheffield,” she said, waiting for the maid to bow before shifting her gaze to Edinburgh “Edinburgh, have the U-class submarines Upholder, Upright, and Una report to the First Royal fleet. We will need their, 'assistance' in escorting Lelouch to Pearl Harbor”.  
  
“Submarines your majesty!” Edinburgh said sounding surprised “But I-. I'll do as you ask, your majesty,” she said with a bow.  
  
Elizabeth nodded. She didn't exactly like the Royal Navy's use of submarines. It a downright un-English way to fight. But the admiralty were the one's who made the decisions on what ships they make, so all she can do about the little blighter's was to just sit back and let them do their job.  
  
Elizabeth sat up in her chair “This is our chance to get one of our own in charge of the Azur Lane, and I will not allow for the admiralty to mess this up, not again!” she said proudly “And if the sirens think they can stop us. Then let them try, for they will be facing against the full might of the Royal First Fleet!. The mightiest fleet ever to set sail!” she said before she stood up “We are the Royal Navy, the largest navy ever to sail across the seas!. We will not stop fighting until our royal shores are once again safe from Siren and Ironblood attacks!” she said before she held her sceptre high in the air “Glory belongs to us!”.  
  
All the kansen gathered in the room snapped to attention and saluted “Glory belongs to us!” they all said in unison.

  


Lelouch smiled as he walked down the corridor, following Colossus and Hercules towards his room for the night. That worked far better than he expected it to go. He probably overdid it with the bow and the 'loyal servant' part, but he needed to impress her and impress her he did. He had no doubt that Queen Elizabeth would do everything in her power to ensure that he became the commander of the Azur lane.  
  
Once he was in command, he could focus all his forces onto the Ironblood. Once they were dealt with and brought back into the fold, he could focus solely on dealing with the real enemy, the Sirens.  
  
He got out the king piece he kept from the Thames and fiddled with it. This was starting to get very interesting.


	10. Chapter 10

Observer sat comfortably within the tentacles of her rigging, her younger self, Observer Mini, sat comfortably on her lap. The little one still needed to learn how to do her job after all, and their creation didn't give them all the information they would need. Well, apart from Tessy, as she was created under more controlled circumstances.  
  
Before her stood two Lurker model sirens, Nin and Lin. Like all mass-produce Siren models they looked identical, so it was almost impossible to tell them apart. Well, unless you are a siren that is.  
  
Oh yes, Purifier was there as well, as she was the one who selected the Lurkers who would be sent on this mission.  
  
“Purifier” Observer said looking at the two Lurkers before her “I did say deploy a Lurker, not two Lurkers. Why are you sending two of them on this mission?” she asked looking rather unimpressed.  
  
“Because I have the greatest plan to keep an eye on that Lelouch boy you want to protect, for some reason” Purifier replied with a smile.  
  
Observer sighed “Please don't tell me it's got something to do with ramming a helicopter into something,” she said.  
  
Purifier looked at her with a confused look “What? Why would I? No, that's not the plan at all” she said, “The plan is to have one lurker observe him from the shadows, whilst the other observes him from within the Azur Lane itself”.  
  
“And how do you suppose we do that?” Observer asked, “Lurkers are rather obvious to the eye. Infiltrating and hiding one inside one of the most secure bases the humans have is not going to be easy”.  
  
“Not unless we disguise one of the Lurkers as a Gato class submarine” Purifier replied “It shouldn't be too difficult. All we need to do is change her outfit, cut her hair a bit, change her eye colour. It should work, we even have a name to use. USS Ayumodoki,” she said with a smile “And don't worry about her ship, as making it look like a Gato class shouldn't be too difficult. Hell, we're already converted Nin's ship to look like a Gato class”.  
  
A smile formed on Observers face “Yes, this could work” she said, “One can keep tabs on threats to him, and the other can deal with them in secret. Yes, this is perfect. Keep up the good work girls”.  
  
“Yes, sir,” Nin and Lin said with a salute.  
  
Observer's gaze moved back to Purifier “Whilst this plan of yours has some problems, it can work. It just needs a few modifications to make it flawless, like how are we going to make the humans not get suspicious of a seventy-eighth Gato class submarine popping up out of the blue” she said.  
  
“I understand, Observer,” Purifier said, “It shouldn't take much effort to come up with a story we can use. But in the meantime we should be able to deploy Lin to observe Lelouch from afar”.  
  
“Good. Deploy Lin to observe Lelouch. He should be boarding one of the ships of the first royal fleet soon” Observer said “I suggest that in the meantime we finish converting Nin into a Gato class and come up with a way to sneak her into the ranks of the Eagle Union. One question though, why not have her as a Royal Navy submarine?”.  
  
Blank faces were all she got from the three sirens. Purifier lowered her head “Fuck!”.  
  
Observer sighed “Oh well, I suppose it can work with her disguised as an Eagle Union submarine,” she said “Nin, Lin, carry out your assigned objectives. I want regular reports on his movements” she ordered, “Purifier, I want an assault force ready to be deployed. We may need to remove someone”.  
  
“Yes sir,” the two Lurkers and Purifier said before all three turned around and left the room.  
  
Observer smiled before she looked down at her younger self “So, did you learn anything from that?” she asked.  
  
“I believe I did” Observer Mini replied with the smuggest of smiles “I am surprised that we are going to such lengths to ensure that he becomes the commander of the Azur Lane. Don't we normally just roll the dice with who commands the AL?” she asked.  
  
“Normally we do, but simulation forty-three is a special case,” Observer said “Observer Zero requested this simulation to be made. Honestly, I'm surprised she's letting this anomaly take command of the Azur lane, let alone live. But observer Zero has the backing of the Inquisitor on this one, so we have to do as she says for this simulation” she said before she started petting Observer Mini on the head “I'm interested to see what direction she's planning for this simulation to go, and for how Lelouch handles the things we throw at him” she said with a smile.  
  
This would be a, most interesting take on events.

  


Lelouch stood at the end of the dock, watching as the ships of the first Royal Fleet prepared for launch. Besides him was Hermione, the light cruiser was watching the fleet with him.  
  
It was an impressive sight, a massive fleet of ships all under his command. Well, as long as Queen Elizabeth agreed with the order. She seemed to be rather fussy about being given orders, saying that most commands are 100,000 years too early to command her. But she said she would be generous to him. He did cripple Bismarck after all, so it was only fair to give him a chance.  
  
The fleet itself was large, consisting of five battleships, two aircraft carriers, two light carriers, three heavy cruisers, five light cruisers, eight destroyers, and several tanker and supply ships. And that was just the kansen and support ships, there were twice as many mass-produce ships as well.  
  
This was a small fleet in comparison to what he used to command back when he was emperor.  
  
“The fleet is almost ready to depart,” Hermione said with a smile “We should be able to depart within half an hour”.  
  
Lelouch smiled “Those Manjuu are very effective workers,” he said as he watched a large group of them launch another mass-produce battleship. Said ship didn't even look near to being completed this morning “Where did they come from, and how can they build ships so quickly?”.  
  
“We have no idea where they came from” Hermoine replied “They just, showed up one day. Their probably the result of some Siren experiment. They've been helping us out ever since we found them” she explained “As for the ship construction. Their building a mass-produce ship. Their designed to buff up our fleets, and are meant to be expendable. They don't take long to build, but they don't last long when under fire”.  
  
“So, the purpose of the mass-produced ships is to soak up enemy fire and provide support for the kansen” Lelouch said.  
  
Hermione nodded “They are quick to build, but just as quick to be destroyed,” she said “Now the real ships, the one's that are manifested into kansen, are built by humans. No Manjuu made ship has ever been able to be manifested into a kansen, only the human-made ones. So the people who build our ships are not out of a job”.  
  
“That's good to hear,” Lelouch said before he looked back at the fleet “No loss of jobs in that area,” he said.  
  
He heard a huff behind him “So, you're the new commander” an unimpressed female voice said behind him.  
  
Lelouch turned and saw two people, probably kansen, standing behind them. A battleship and a light cruiser. It was almost surprising that he was able to tell what class of ship they were just at a glance, but after everything he learned about them, it was remarkably easy to spot which one was which class.  
  
The light cruiser was wearing a maid dress. She had blue hair and was holding a rather impressive trident.  
  
The other one, the battleship, had some similarities to the KGV class girls but looked distinct enough to probably be a different version of the class. She had a black cape over a white military dress. A black cap, black shoes with black thigh-high stockings, and had a cane that he almost mistook for a sword.  
  
“Monarch, Neptune. It's good to see you” Hermione said as she turned to look at them “What brings you two here?” she asked.  
  
“We wanted to check out the new commander before we left for the main Azur Lane base” Neptune replied with a slight blush “But nobody told us that he was attractive”.  
  
Lelouch resister the urge to sigh. This was starting to be like his fan club back in Ashford Academy, but instead of fellow students, it's the women under his command. Oh well, he survived his Ashford Academy fan club, he can survive this one.  
  
What's the worse that can happen.  
  
“Looks aren't everything you know,” Monarch said calmly “You need a good grasp on navy warfare and military tactics to make it as a successful commander,” she said.  
  
Lelouch smiled “At least I'm not the only one who knows the value of having a competent commander,” he said, “Don't worry lady's, I ensure you that I meet both of those requirements. I did take out Bismarck after all”.  
  
“Indeed you did. And it was quite impressive” Monarch said calmly, “Most of the admiralty thought that you would fail in sinking her. Guess you proved them wrong,” she said with a smile smile “But we haven't properly introduced ourselves. I am the PR ship Monarch, I'm one of the rejected King George V-class design”.  
  
“And I am the PR ship Neptune,” Neptune said “I am a large light cruiser who only existed on paper” she added.  
  
PR ships. Thunderchild and Hood said something about the PR ship development program. Were these girls the product of that project?  
  
“Ah, I was wondering when I was going to meet one of our nations PR ship,” Lelouch said with a smile.  
  
“Ah yes, Thunderchild. Our predecessor” Monarch said, “Project Thunderchild may not have been the most successful project the Royal Navy conducted. But it did pave the way for our construction”.  
  
“It's a shame this war is going on,” Neptune said, “I would have liked to have met Roon at some point”.  
  
“Who's Roon?” Lelouch asked, curious about the existence of more PR ships.  
  
“She's the Ironblood PR ship that was developed as part of series one” Neptune replied, “There were six in total. The other three are Ibuki and Izumo of the Sakura Empire, and Saint Louis of the Iris Orthodoxy. But after their nation fell apart, she came under command of the Iris Libre” she explained.  
  
“We PR ships are a lot stronger then your average kansen” Monarch added, “We also do a lot more damage to sirens. But because of the pointless war you humans have decided to start, we haven't been able to fight any”.  
  
“I see. Tell me, what do you know about Roon?” Lelouch asked, “Seeing that I might be fighting her at some point, it's best that I get some information on her”.  
  
“We don't know much about Roon, other than she killed everyone present when she was awoken,” Neptune said “They wanted her to be a weapon, a killing machine. They succeeded,” she said, “We don't know anything else about her”.  
  
Lelouch smile. It may not have been much, but it told him a great deal about Roon “Thank you lady's. That was most informative” he said.  
  
“But we didn't tell you anything about her” Neptune said sounding confused.  
  
“Oh the contrary, you gave me more then enough information,” Lelouch said, “The fact that we know they wanted her to be a killing machine tells us that she's dangerous, very dangerous. We will have to be careful if we ever engage her in combat”.  
  
A small smile formed on Monarch's face “That would be the smart thing to do” she said, “Us PR ships are difficult to take down after all. And we have no idea on Roon's combat capability's”.  
  
“Attention! All kansen and command staff of the first Royal Fleet!” Queen Elizabeths' voice said into his ear “Final preparations have been completed. All Kansen are to report to their ships, and all command staff are to report to HMS Hermione. We will be departing in ten minutes and we do not want to leave anyone behind”.  
  
“And that's our cue to leave,” Neptune said “It's been nice talking to you commander, but we have to report to our ships now. Whilst we're not part of the first Royal Fleet, we are coming along for the ride. We will be able to talk later,” she said before she bowed politely before walking away.  
  
“I'll talk to you later commander” Monarch said as she turned around and walked towards to her ship.  
  
“We should board my ship now, Lelouch,” Hermione said, gesturing towards her ship “We wouldn't want to delay her majesty, now do we”.  
  
“Of course,” Lelouch said as he turned and followed the maid towards her ship.  
  
“Lelouch! Wait!” the voice of Thunderchild shouted. Lelouch stopped and turned, seeing the torpedo ram running up towards him.  
  
He allowed Thunderchild to rush up to him, stopping to catch her breath before talking to him.  
  
“Lelouch. Sorry for delaying you, but I wanted to see you one last time before you left” Thunderchild said, looking up at him.  
  
“You ok Thunderchild?” Lelouch asked, noticing the bandages around her head.  
  
“I'm fine, sir” Thunderchild replied, “I just wish the same could be said about Hood. She took some serious damage during the battle with Bismarck, and I'm worried that she won't make it”.  
  
“Don't worry, she'll make it” Lelouch said, reassuring the young girl “The doctors and repair crews should be able to save her. It will be a while before she recovers, but she will get better, I promise”.  
  
“I hope your right” Thunderchild said, a small tear falling from her eye “I-I'll miss you, Lelouch. You're one of the few commander's I've actually liked”.  
  
“I'm sorry, but as the Royal Navy's candidate for the Azur Lane I have to go,” Lelouch said, “Don't worry, I'll try to stay in contact, but I can't promise much”.  
  
Thunderchild nodded before she hugged Lelouch tightly.  
  
“Commander, we have to go,” Hermione said.  
  
Thunderchild removed her arms from around Lelouch and stepped back “I'll see you around commander".  
  
Lelouch smiled “I'll see you around,” he said before he turned around and boarded Hermione's ship.  
  
The fleet departed soon after, leaving port and entering formation as they slowly moved away from the port.  
  
Their formation was a simple but defensive one, prioritising the protection of the kansen ships over the mass-produced one's. Lelouch made a few changes to the formation, making it a lot more effective at dealing with hostile forces.  
  
It would be a while before they reached Pearl Harbor, and he had no intention of losing a single ship before he got there.

  


?????????  
“The Black King leaves his Royal Shores, destined for power that other's will be jealous of. The wolf will try to remove him, whilst the falcon will try the same. Yet the shadows will be the one's to save him, and the power of the seas, shall be his to command once again”.

“Come to me, my Black King. Come to me, and release me from my slumber”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another chapter done. sorry it took me so long to finish it, but I had a lot of my plate for awhile and had to focus on other things.
> 
> Also, one questions. which kansen would you ship with Lelouch. it can be any kansen, even one he hasn't met yet. I just want to know who you think would ship well with him.


	11. Chapter 11

It unnerved Lelouch that all the submarines and destroyers looked and acted like children. The fact that they were happy to go into battle didn't help either. It didn't feel right to have kids as soldiers. But, if that's the way they manifested, then he would have to get used to them.  
  
He could handle the destroyers just fine, as well as some of the other child looking kansen. The submarines, on the other hand, were a completely different story.  
  
“Ahoy commander” a girl who had introduced herself as Upholder, said with a mock salute. Trying her best to sound like a pirate. Unsuccessfully.  
  
Behind her were two other girls, Upright and Una. All three of them were submarines and were wearing pirate themed outfits and swimsuits. Said swimsuits were, well, not the kind of thing you would give to a kid.  
  
Queen Elizabeth, who was standing beside him, sighed “Command, meet the submarines, Upholder, Upright and Una” she said, looking like she was trying her best to remain calm “They are members of the Royal Navy's submarine fleet”.  
  
“Aren't you forgetting something, queeny” Upholder said with a smug grin “About us being a bunch of rebellious little blighter's?” she said as the other two stared giggling.  
  
Elizabeth's face turned a bright red “You, little, so and so's!” she said sounding very annoyed.  
  
“I take it you don't like them much” Lelouch observed.  
  
“Hate them! They're underhanded, unfair, and damned un-English, and should be hung as pirates!” Elizabeth said loudly.  
  
“Ah come on queeny. Admit it, you like us” Upholder said with a smug grin, whilst Una held up a pirate flag.  
Elizabeth gowned as her head dropped “Just, get into formation around the fleet!” she ordered, “We will your support if we get attacked. So, get into formation quickly”.  
  
Upholder smiled “Ok. But remember, we will like to spend some time to get to know the new commander at some point,” she said before the three girls rushed off and jumped off the side of the ship.  
  
“I'm sorry about them,” Elizabeth said, still sounding a bit annoyed “Rebellious little blighter's. I should never have voiced my opinion on submarines”.  
  
“Whys that?” Lelouch asked.  
  
“Well, they might be a bit more manageable” Elizabeth replied, “They only started acting like pirates after my opinion on them went public, and they've been nuisances ever since. Oh well, that should keep them under control, for now at least,” she said before she turned back to Lelouch “Anyway, now that their occupied, let is return to our tea,” she said before she turned and walked towards the front of her ship. Lelouch followed, not wanting his tea to get too cold.  
  
When they had left the tea party the maids were still setting it up, and only a few people had shown up. Now all the guests had arrived.  
  
Only a few members of the fleet had been invited, the battleships Warspite and King George V, the carriers Illustrious, Ark Royal, and Unicorn, and the destroyers Vampire and Javelin. The cruisers Belfast, Hermione, Edinburgh, and Sirius were also there serving them. The rest of the fleet were busy keeping an eye on things, as it would be a very bad idea to have all the fleet's kansen on one ship having tea.  
  
He sat down in-between Unicorn and Ark Royal. Unicorn was a young girl, about the same age as the destroyers. She had long purple hair, like Javelin, and a long white dress. She also had a unicorn plush toy with her, which looked like it was alive and could somehow eat.  
  
He wasn't going to ask how that's possible.  
  
He also couldn't help but notice that Ark Royal kept shifting her gaze between him and the destroyers. He knew from Colossus and Hercules that the carrier had an obsession with destroyers. He would have to keep an eye on her.  
  
“Ah, your majesty, commander” Illustrious said as the two sat down “I hope the submarines didn't cause you too much trouble”.  
  
“They didn't, thankfully,” Elizabeth said with a sigh “Their currently on escort duty. But I don't think that will keep them occupied for long. We don't expect any Siren contacts during this trip”.  
  
“Well, at least this will be an uneventful trip,” King George V said before taking a sip of tea. She then looked Ark Royal, then at Lelouch “You know, now that I've seen you two together, you two do look surprisingly similar” she said.  
  
“What?” Lelouch said sounding slightly confused.  
  
“Oh, sorry. But I overheard Duke of York saying something about you two being siblings” George said, causing Ark to spit out her tea,  
  
“George,” Ark said sounding rather surprised “Siblings, really. You know we kansen are not born traditionally, and the only siblings we have are our sister ships. Which I don't have as I'm the only one of my class,” she said, “Still, there are some similarities between us, like the hair and face. But apart from that, there's nothing similar about us”.  
  
Lelouch glanced over at Ark. He had to admit, there were some similarities between them. The hair really did make them look like siblings.  
  
Nunnally would have laughed at that.  
  
Elizabeth sighed “Lady's please. You're being insensitive,” she said, “Lelouch did lose his sister to a siren attack”.  
  
“It's alright, your majesty,” Lelouch said calmly “I have long since come to terms with my sisters passing”.  
  
“Of course. My apologies” Elizabeth said before she took a bite out of a scone “Mmmm. These are really good” she said before she turned to Sirius “Your cooking's improving”.  
  
“Oh, I didn't make the scones. The batch I made had to be thrown away” Sirius said, “Lelouch made these one's”.  
  
“What!” Elizabeth, King George V, Illustrious, Ark Royal, Unicorn, Vampire, and Javelin all exclaimed.  
  
“You can cook!” George said sounding surprised.  
  
“Cook, clean, washing up, vacuum, do the laundry. You name it, I can do it” Lelouch said before he took a sip of tea “I had a paraplegic sister to look after, so I had to do all the housework and cooking”.  
  
All the girls looked at him with surprised looks on their faces.  
  
“You must have really loved your sister,” Elizabeth said sombrely.  
  
“I did,” Lelouch said, “I always wanted to make the world a better place for her. But, with the sirens around, that's not possible”.  
  
“Agreed. We all want the world to be a better place” Elizabeth said, “The sooner this pointless war is over, the sooner we can focus on our primary objective. To defeat the Sirens”.  
  
“Indeed,” Lelouch said. It was surprising that the people of this world could still fight amongst themselves whilst under attack by an alien threat. But then again, humans were surprisingly stupid creatures at times.  
  
“Ur... commander Lelouch,” the quiet voice of Unicorn said besides him.  
  
“Yes, Unicorn,” Lelouch said, turning towards the young escort carrier.  
  
“Can... can I call you... big brother?” Unicorn asked.  
  
Lelouch pasted for a second. He had read up on all the kansen of the royal navy, focusing on the one's under his command first. Unicorn saw the royal navy's fleet carriers as older sisters and had asked several commanders if it was ok to call them big brother. Most of them refused, but one commander tried to abuse her after asking. He was promptly arrested by the military police. But it shocked him to find out that he was not only released with all charges dropped, but was now an admiral of the royal navy.  
  
If he became the commander of the Azur Lane, he was going to make sure that no one got away with barbaric acts such as this.  
  
“Yeah, sure you can,” Lelouch said calmly and politely. He didn't mind the young carrier calling him big brother. It helped that it would improve his public image, as someone friendly to the kansen under his command. Also, he didn't want the Illustrious sisters to break his legs. They did that to a guy once, and unlike the admiral who got away scot-free, he did not have any charges on him dropped.  
  
He patted Unicorn on the head, to show that he meant well. He then turned back towards the others. He could see a smile on Illustrious' face. It was a friendly one, but also had a hidden threat behind it. 'Harm her, and you won't wake up tomorrow'.  
  
Despite her ladylike appearance, she was a cunning and dangerous woman. He would not want to get on the wrong side of her.  
  
“So, I am wondering, what are my chances of becoming the next commander of the Azur Lane?” Lelouch asked.  
  
“Oh right. Your chances of becoming the next AL commander” Elizabeth said before she finished off her scone “These are really good by the way. Anyway, you'll probably be up against the commanders the Eagle Union and Sakura Empire are putting forward. So it's going to be an even battle. But knowing the Eagle Union, they're going to try some unhanded tactics to try and get their commander in charge. It's how they got Grant Kline in charge”.  
  
“So, expect the Eagle Union to cheat,” Lelouch said.  
  
“Yep. We don't know how they're allowed to get away with it, but we think it has something to do with them having way more power in the AL then all the other factions” Elizabeth said “We and the Sakura Empire have been pushing for reformations within the Azur Lane, to reduce the amount of power the Eagle Union have over the organisation. But it has been like talking to a brick wall with them” she said sounding annoyed “If we can get one of our own in command, then it will be a lot easier to reform everything and balance out the amount of control the factions have over the Azur Lane”.  
  
“With any luck, the Sakura Empire should back us up on this one” Illustrious said “Even if they can't get their own commander in, seeing that we share the same goal, they surely would try to get ours in,” she said.  
  
“So, we can trust on their support then,” Lelouch said with a smile. It was nice to know that Japan would be with him on this, especially after everything he's done for their country. Admittedly he hasn't done anything for this worlds Japan, so it's kind of a moot point. But it made him feel slightly better.  
  
“Indeed we can,” Elizabeth said with a smile “But that's if we can communicate with them properly. They've been suspiciously quiet as of late, and have recalled all of their personal and kansen from the main AL base”.  
  
Lelouch's smile quickly turned into a frown. This was very suspicions behaviour from the Sakura Empire. Recalling all of their troops and being very quiet. They were planning something, something big.  
  
He felt his chances of them supporting him in becoming the commander of the Azur Lane drop significantly.  
  
“Well, let's just hope that they're on our side when the time comes,” Lelouch said.  
  
The rest of the party was spent talking about other things and generally, getting to know the girls under his command a lot better. He learnt a few things about them, as well as a few things that he wished he didn't know.  
  
As they talked, his mind raced with plans and ideas. With the Sakura Empire being suspiciously quiet, he had to plan for the possibility that they were planning something against the Azur Lane, probably to attack it. It was only a possibility, but still, it was something that he had to plan for. Just in case Japan wasn't as friendly as they initially thought.

  


Meanwhile, just outside the fleets submarine detection radius, the Lurker model siren Lin silently observed the fleet from a safe distance. Watching and keeping an eye on Lelouch Lamperouge, who was surprisingly good looking. For a human that is.  
  
As she watched, she sent back everything she saw back to Observer. The squid Siren in question was sitting within the tentacles of her rigging, with her younger self, Observer Mini, sitting comfortably on her lap.  
  
Besides her was Tester and Purifier, who were watching the large screen in front of them.  
  
“Why did nobody tell me how attractive this Lelouch guy was,” Tester said, watching the screen “I would have been one-hundred percent with this plan from the get-go if he was this good looking”.  
  
“This is the first time we've seen him with a clean face,” Purifier said with a smile “Your sure we can't kidnap him?” she asked.  
  
“For what purpose would we kidnap him for” Observer retorted with a smile “He knows nothing we don't already know. And he's not yet the commander of the Azur Lane, so all we will be doing is ruining Zero's plan”.  
  
Purifier sighed “Fair point”.  
  
Observer shifted her gaze away from Purifier and back towards the screen “Lin, maintain your observation of Lelouch, keep his fleet within sight at all times” she ordered.  
  
“Copy that Observer” Lin responded.  
  
The screen then changed to the Lurker Nin, whose transformation into a Gato class submarine had been completed. She looked a lot more human now, with short blond hair, pinker skin, blue eyes, and a different swimsuit.  
  
“Nin, I see your transformation has been completed,” Observer said with a smile.  
  
“Indeed it has,” Nin said “All the changes have been made, and the necessary documentation I need are all done. Now, all we need to do is get me into the Azur Lane main base, sneak the documents into the commanders quarters, and then I'm in”.  
  
“Good” Observer said “What about the assault fleet, how long till it's ready to attack?” she asked.  
  
“Oh, it's ready Observer,” Nin said before she turned the camera around, showing them a large fleet of mass-produce ships and sirens “The fleet is ninety-nine percent complete. We're just waiting on a few more mass-produced ships to be finished, then we can commence our attack”.  
  
Observers smile got larger “Excellent. Launch the attack the moment the ships are finished. I'll be sending Purifier to lead the assault. Remember, this attack is supposed to be a distraction, so don't try to cause too much damage to the facility. Just make sure you complete your objective before the attack finishes. We estimate it will last ten to fifteen minutes, so be quick” she said before turning to Purifier “Purifier, whilst this attack is only a distraction, you have to make sure that the base commander is killed during the attack. With him dead, the Eagle Union will not be able to muster a new candidate for the commander of the Azur lane”.  
  
“Understood,” Purifier said with a smile, summoning her rigging “I'll make sure he dies-”.  
  
“Excuse me,” a quiet voice asked behind Purifier. The Siren turned around and saw Purichi, her child version who was also made after a small skirmish with the Azur Lane of simulation eighty “Can I come to?” she asked.  
  
“Sure you can,” Purifier said with a friendly smile, patting her younger self on the head.  
  
Purichi smiled. This would be the first time she'll be allowed into one of the simulations, and have some fun with the Azur Lane girls as well.  
  
She was going to have a lot of fun out there.


	12. Chapter 12

Lelouch stood at the front of HMS Hermione. It had taken a few weeks to reach their destination. Travel by sea did take a long time after all. But now they were nearing their destination, the island Oahu, where the main Azur Lane base was located. It would have been quicker to get there by air, but kansen aren't really designed to be transported by air. They are ships after all.  
  
Over the past few weeks, he had been able to get to know the kansen under his command, including the submarines, who were indeed a handful to deal with. He also learnt of the Royal Navy kansen who were stationed at the main Azur Lane base, which included the fourth vessel of the King George V class, Anson.  
  
He'd have to read up on those kansen, as well as the Eagle Union one's as well. Just so he had a better understanding of who they were, and how best to command them.  
  
“Not long now,” Hermione said as she walked up behind him “We should be able to see the island in a little less then half an hour”.  
  
He turned to face her “Thank you, Hermione,” he said with a smile.  
  
“Your welcome, master” Hermione said with a bow. She then turned around and returned to her duty's.  
  
Lelouch turned and continued to look out to sea. It was nice to have a maid looking after him again. Sayoko was nice and always looked after them, and she was strong enough to fight Suzaku. Although now he effectively had an army of Sayoko's under his command, as according to Belfast. Dreadnought, the kansen who trained the royal maid corps, didn't let them pass and become fully-fledged maids until they could serve a cup of tea. Whilst under fire.  
  
The things he could pull off with an army of Sayoko's. His brother Schneizel's sky fortress would have meant nothing to an army of ninja maids, especially if said maids had cruiser levels of firepower at their disposal.  
  
He smiled at the thought. But quickly that smile turned into a frown as he saw a speck on the horizon. He quickly got out his binoculars and looked at the speck. It was another fleet, a large fleet by the looks of it.  
  
He quickly got onto comms “Elizabeth. Fleet spotted dead ahead” he said.  
  
“Copy that” Elizabeth responded “Illustrious, you have a scout plane up. What do you see?”.  
  
“It's a Sakura Empire carrier fleet” Illustrious replied, “I see the first, second, and fifth carrier divisions with a seizable escort fleet. But I don't see any command ships”.  
  
“No command ship. That's strange” Elizabeth said “The Sakura Empire wouldn't send the pride of their carrier fleet out without supervision. Plus, knowing them, they wouldn't miss the opportunity to get one of their own commanders in charge of the Azur Lane”.  
  
“They probably didn't have anyone capable of taking the job” Javelin theorised “It is a rather demanding task, commanding mankind's last hope of survival”.  
  
“Good point, it's not the easiest of jobs in the world,” Elizabeth said, “They're probably here for moral support, and to help back us up”.  
  
“It would probably be good to give them a call” Lelouch suggested, “Just to make sure their on the same page as us”.  
  
“Good point. They might be doing the same thing we're doing, and have their commander on one of their ships” Elizabeth said “I'll call them now” she said before she opened up a comm channel to the Sakura Empire fleet.

  


Meanwhile, Sakura Empire fleet.  
  
Akagi frowned. This was bad, very bad. The fleet was panicking and in disarray, all because of the sudden arrival of the Royal Navy fleet.  
  
They were just about to launch operation Z when the fleet came into view. It's sudden appearance put the entire plan into jeopardy. They couldn't launch the attack with that fleet around, not without them noticing and warning the Eagle Union, and them retaliating with a massive amount of firepower.  
  
Yes, they have far more aircraft than the Royal navy, but if those battleships got into range, then it's game over for them. And even IF they managed to defeat the Royal Navy fleet, they wouldn't be able to defeat the Eagle Union retaliation fleet.  
  
“Akagi” Kaga's voice said over comms “What do we do? We can't risk launching the attack with that fleet bearing down on us”.  
  
“I know, we can't fight both the Royal Navy and the Eagle Union in a head-on fight. We don't have the firepower” Akagi said, sounding slightly annoyed “And it's obvious they've seen us, you'll have to be blind to miss us at that range”.  
  
“Commander Akagi” Zuikaku's voice chipped in over comms “We've got an incoming transmission from the royal navy fleet. It's from Queen Elizabeth”.  
  
Great, the leader of the Royal Navy was here herself, that meant that they were up against the First Royal fleet. Just her luck. If they were screwed before, they were definitely screwed now. Queen Elizabeth's Queens Orders ability gave a passive buff to every Royal Navy ship in her fleet.  
  
Akagi sighed, they would have abort the operation, for now at least. They couldn't risk fighting both the Royal Navy and Eagle Union. They didn't even have enough mass-produced ships to effectively fight them.  
  
“Attention, all kansen of the fleet. We're aborting the operation. Do not launch the attack” Akagi said over comms “Zuikaku, patch me to Queen Elizabeth”.  
  
“Rodger,” Zuikaku said. And soon she heard the slightly annoying voice of Queen Elizabeth.  
  
“Sakura Empire carrier fleet, this is Queen Elizabeth of the Royal Navy,” Elizabeth said proudly “To who are we speaking to”.  
  
“This is Akagi of the first carrier division” Akagi responded, “I was put in command of this fleet, as we have no commanders available”.  
  
“You don-. Please don't tell me that, after all the planning we've done, you lot can't be bothered to get a candidate for the next commander of the Azur Lane” Elizabeth said sounding annoyed “Oh well, at least we have a candidate for the Azur Lane commander”.  
  
Oh, so that's why they're here, Akagi thought. This had just turned from a disaster to a rather advantageous situation. This gave her the perfect opportunity to get to know the Royal Navy's candidate, and hopefully, get them in command. It would give her a better understanding of the Azur Lane's command and how it will be structured. They did help a lot with the reformations after all.  
  
The war with the Eagle Union, and the Azur Lane as a whole, was inevitable. There was nothing that could be done to stop it. Delayed yes, but not stopped. She just had to hope that high command would delay the war declaration long enough for her to gather enough Intel on this new commander. If he was bad, then they could leave him be. But if it turned out this guy was competent, then he would be a primary target and would need to be eliminated.  
  
“Don't worry, you will have the full support of the Sakura Empire” Akagi said with a sly smile.  
  
A sudden crackled over the radio “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. This is Azur Main to all available combat units. We are under attack by a large Siren assault force and are taking massive damage. We can't hold them” a panicked voice said over the comms “We have confirmed sighting of the Siren Purifier leading the assault. We need immediate reinforcements-” the voice said before the line went dead.  
  
This was both good and bad. Good because the Sirens were doing their job for them, and bad because the Sirens were attacking the Azur Lane HQ. But it was a close save. If that attack had happened whilst they were attacking as well, it would have caused some unwanted implications that they were working with the Sirens. Which was very bad as that was something they didn't need right now.  
  
“You guys heard that?” Akagi asked Elizabeth over comms.  
  
“We did” Elizabeth replied, “We will be moving to assist the Azur Main. Lelouch, you are now in command of the Royal First fleet. Prove to me that the crippling of Bismarck was not a fluke,” she said.  
  
“As you wish, your majesty,” A new voice said over comms. It was male and sounded young, but he sounded charming, with a polite demeanour.  
  
“Who was that?” Akagi asked.  
  
“I am Lelouch Lamperouge” the voice, Lelouch, replied politely and hastily “Royal Navy commander, and candidate for the position of commander of the Azur Lane”.  
  
“Well then, Lelouch. I'll let you command our fleet during this battle” Akagi said, “But be warned. If I think your orders are questionable, I will order my fleet to ignore you and command the fleet myself”.  
  
“That is acceptable. But do note, the admiralty saw fit to not provide me with a command ship” Lelouch said, “My command ability will be significantly reduced because of it”.  
  
“Well that's just great,” Akagi said sounding annoyed “Oh well, knowing the Eagle Union, they will hopefully have-” she was about to say 'have a few command ships spare' when they received another distress call.  
  
“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. This is the Eagle Union battleship Nevada at Azur Main. We are under heavy Siren attack” the battleship Nevada said over comms “We have lost all base command staff and command ships. If there is anyone out there, we need immediately support now”.  
  
“Nevada, this is Lelouch Lamperouge of the Royal Navy. The First Royal fleet is inbound on your location with air support” Lelouch said over comms “We're with a Sakura Empire carrier fleet. But neither of us have a command ship with us”.  
  
“Well, good luck trying to command this cluster fuck without one” Nevada said.  
  
“Wait. What about the Shikikan. Can we use that?” Akagi asked.  
  
“We can't risk launching it. Not whilst we're under Siren attack” Nevada replied.  
  
“But it's command and control systems are fully operational,” Akagi said, “We can still use it to command the battle, even without launching it”.  
  
“That should work,” Nevada said, “I'll get to work trying to get it operation. But it will be difficult. The sirens are not going to make it easy for us”.  
  
“What's the Shikikan?” Lelouch asked.  
  
“It's a command ship. That's all you need to know right now” Akagi replied. She would have told him more about the experimental command ship Shikikan, but he wasn't cleared to know about it yet. She was only suggesting they use it because nothing else was available.  
  
“Understood,” Lelouch said before he switched to fleet-wide comms “All ships, move to assist the Azur Lane HQ. Carriers launch your aircraft and send them to provide air support, but leave some back for CAP. Everyone will them form up in a defensive formation and proceed towards the battle” he ordered. It was soon followed by a choir of confirmations from every kansen in the fleet, and the activation of their rigging.  
  
“Commander,” Akagi said, “Good luck out there. We're going to need it”.  
  
“Thanks. I'll do my best” Lelouch said before the call was disconnected, and both fleets started to move.  
  
Akagi and the five other carriers in her fleet started launching their aircraft “Attention, all ships of the Sakura Empire fleet, we are assisting the Royal Navy in assisting the Azur Lane main HQ” she said over a comm channel that only the Sakura Empire kansen had access to. She also spoke in Japanese, just in case someone was listening in “Whilst we're not attacking the base, if an opportunity presents itself, carriers are to try and bomb key targets that the sirens miss. With any luck, we can cripple this base without anyone noticing or suspecting that we tried to attack them” she said “Kaga. Get online with high-command. Tell them that, due to unforeseen circumstances, we have been unable to launch the attack on the Azur Lane. Also, tell them to delay the war declaration for as long as they can. I do not want it sent whilst we're still here”.  
  
“Copy that” Kaga replied calmly as the large swarm of Royal Navy and Sakura Empire aircraft headed towards the Azur Lane HQ.  
  
With any luck, the sirens would do most of the job for them.

  


Royal Navy Fleet. Sometime later.  
  
Lelouch watched as his fleet engaged the Siren ships, and providing the Eagle Union kansen with much-needed support. And oh boy was it needed. The siren fleet was massive, with large numbers of mass-produced ships and sirens. There was no sign of the siren Purifier, but she couldn't be far.  
  
The battle itself was a mess. Groups of kansen were everywhere, trying to hold the sirens back, but they were disorganised and without a commander.  
  
He needed to get to that command ship ASAP.  
  
“Nevada. Where's the Shikikan?” Lelouch asked over comms.  
  
“I can't exactly tell you where it is, not over an open comm” Nevada replied, “Get to Ford Island. I can take you to it from there”.  
  
“Copy that,” Lelouch said before switching to a Royal Navy comm channel “All ships of the Royal navy, cover Hermione's ship as we make our way towards Ford Island. We need to get to the surviving command ship” he ordered, getting confirmations from all the Royal Navy kansen.  
  
“This battle isn't going well,” Hermione said as several Siren aircraft flew overhead, followed by several Royal Navy aircraft “Why would the Sirens attack Azur Main. They've never hit such a heavily defended location like this before”.  
  
“I don't know,” Lelouch said as a mass-produced ship exploded in front of them, causing Hermoine to change course “There could be hundreds of reasons as to why they're attacking. We may never know-”  
  
“Incoming!” Hermione shouted as she grabbed Lelouch and pulled him away from the front of the ship.  
  
He almost didn't notice the high-explosive shell bearing down on them.  
  
The light cruiser tried to get him away from the blast area, but in the confusing she tripped, causing both of them the fall onto the deck. She looked up at the shell, just moments before it hit the ship.  
  
Suddenly, a kansen came out of nowhere and smashed the shell aside with her sword.  
  
Lelouch looked up at his saviour. He could tell that she was a King George V class ship, going by her red and white uniform, and the two quadruple 356mm turrets she had over each shoulder. It wasn't King George V or Duke of York, so it had to be the fourth sister of the class, Anson.  
  
The battleship turned around and looked at them, and Lelouch was shocked by who he saw.  
  
“Cornelia?”.


	13. Chapter 13

Lelouch could not believe his eyes. Cornelia was one of the last people he wanted to see, mainly because he was supposed to be dead, but also because she also wanted to kill him. So seeing her here, alive, and with battleship grade firepower literately on her person, filled him with dread.  
  
“Commander, glad to see that you've finally arrived,” Cornelia said with a slight smile “We've been a disorganised mess since the command building was destroyed,” she said before she held out her hand.  
  
Lelouch, still feeling a bit nervous but not wanting to look rude, took her arm. Letting her help him up.  
  
“There we go,” Cornelia said as she helped him up, she then took a step back and saluted “Battleship Anson, fourth vessel of the King George V class, reporting for duty commander,” she said  
  
Anson, the fourth vessel of the King George V class. Why the hell did she look like Cornelia? He'll have to find out why that could be later, as right now he had a battle to win.  
  
“Anson” Hermione said as she got up “Glad to see your posting here hasn't reduced your combat skill”.  
  
Cornelia, no, Anson, merely smiled “The Eagle Union run regular combat drills. I've been able to get myself on a few of them,” she said, “Sadly their not too into sword fighting, so I haven't been able to practice it for some time”.  
  
A Siren aircraft crashing into the sea nearby reminded them that they were still on a battlefield.  
  
“We can have this talk later,” Lelouch said, recoiling slightly from the nearby crash “Right now we need to get to Ford Island. I would appreciate your help in escorting us there”.  
  
“Escorting you sir,” Anson said with a smirk “I can do one better than that, commander,” she said before she picked Lelouch up in a bridal carry and jumped off the side of the ship.  
  
Hermione watched Anson carry Lelouch off the ship, and towards Ford Island. She sighed before activating her own rigging and following the battleship. Elizabeth had given her clear instructions to protect Lelouch with her life, after all. There was no way she was going to let him out of her sight, not now.  
  
Lelouch meanwhile had mixed feelings about being carried through an active battlefield. Being carried by someone who looked and sounded like Cornelia didn't help.  
  
“This doesn't feel very safe,” Lelouch said as he tightened his grip around Anson. He'd been in several battles before, but never had he been carried through an active battlefield, as shells and bombs landed rather too close to comfort all around him.  
  
“It's safer than standing on the main deck of a ship,” Anson said “Did high-command really not send you out with a command ship?” she asked.  
  
“No, they did not,” Lelouch said, really wishing that they had sent him out with one, “They said that I wouldn't need one”.  
  
“Well, that's a breach of protocol and a half. They're not supposed to do that” Anson said as she ducked underneath a falling crane “Just when I thought high-command couldn't make themselves look more like idiots”.  
  
“Anson” Hermione shouted as she sailed up beside them “Shouldn't I be the one carrying him? As a light cruiser, I am faster and will be able to get him to Ford Island quicker”.  
  
“Indeed, but you didn't have your rigging active at the time,” Anson said, “I can pass him to you if you want”.  
  
“Please don't” Lelouch pleaded, really wishing he was standing on something solid.  
  
“As you wish,” Anson said before she jumped over the sinking remains of a mass-produced ship “Why exactly do we need to get to Ford Island anyway? All the command ship there had been destroyed,” she asked.  
  
“All except the Shikikan” Lelouch replied, “Nevada told me to meet her there so she can take me to it”.  
  
“Ah, so trial by fire then,” Anson said with a smile “You must be lucky. To be the first commander to use the ALS Shikikan in battle”.  
  
“I don't even know what the Shikikan is, apart from it being a command ship,” Lelouch said.  
  
“Oh, you'll see what it is soon enough,” Anson said as Ford Island came into view.  
  
There was a lot of flack fire coming from the small island. Most of it came from the numerous AA guns located around the island, but a significant amount was coming from several Kansen surrounding the island.  
  
Anson quickly reached the island and jumped up onto a large dock. There were several humans wearing navy and marine uniforms about the place, operating AA guns or trying to hit the Siren aircraft with their rifles. There were a lot of Manjuu around as well, hauling around ammo for the Kansen and AA emplacements.  
  
Useful little guys those Manjuu.  
  
Moments after arriving on land, a woman rushed over to them. She was wearing a fringed leather outfit, a bit like a cowboy or other American frontier types. She had white hair and blue eyes.  
  
“I'll take it your the Royal Navy commander,” the woman said as she rushed over to them. She didn't sound like Nevada, so she was probably sent to meet them and bring him to Nevada.  
  
“Indeed. Lelouch Lamperouge, Royal navy commander” Lelouch said.  
  
“Good,” the woman said with a smile “Battleship Oklahoma, Nevada's sister. She is currently busy getting the Shikikan's command systems ready, so she sent me to find you and bring you to her”.  
  
“You a kansen,” Lelouch said sounding surprised “Where's your rigging?” he asked.  
  
“Destroyed. The Sirens sunk it before I could manifest my rigging” Oklahoma said, “It's not safe out here commander. We need to get moving before something lands on us”.  
  
“Got it” Lelouch said before turning to Anson “Anson, I need you to return to the battle, we need your firepower out there fighting the Sirens”.  
  
“Rodger that commander. I'll add my firepower to that of my sisters. The Sirens won't know what hit them” Anson said before she turned around and jumped onto the water, sailing off towards the battle.  
  
It felt strange commanding Cornelia. Well, someone who looked and sounded like Cornelia. But it was something that he could get used to, as long as he didn't run into any more kansen who looked like women he once knew. He would have to check the records of all currently active kansen, just in case, there are any more who look like people he knew.  
  
He probably wouldn't be able to cope with a kansen who looked like Euphemia, Shirley, or god forbid, his sister Nunnally.  
  
“Come on, this way sir,” Oklahoma said, waving to him to follow as she rushed off.  
  
Lelouch followed quickly, with Hermione right behind him. As they ran he could see the devastation that the sirens had caused to the base and the surrounding city. It reminded him an awful lot of Britannia's invasion of Japan. Of the devastation, the first generation Knightmares had brought upon the country and its people.  
  
It was obvious that the sirens were just as merciless as Britannia, which gave him all the more reason to stop them.  
  
They soon reached a slipway with a large armoured building at the end of it. The Shikikan was probably inside.  
  
“In here commander” Oklahoma shouted as she rushed towards a side door on the building, and rushed in. Lelouch and Hermione followed her in and were surprised by the ship they saw.  
  
Right in the middle of the room was a ship, about the size of a heavy cruiser, but it looked to have the armaments of a destroyer, even then it had very few guns and no torpedoes. What it did look like it had were an extensive radar and Command and Controle systems.  
  
“That's quite the impressive ship” Hermione marvelled as she looked at the ship.  
  
“Lelouch, Hermoine, say hello to the most advanced ship in the Azur Lane fleet. The ALS Shikikan. The most advanced command ship to date” Oklahoma said as they rushed over to the boarding ramp “As much as I would like to tell you what this baby can do, right now all we need is its bridge. Nothing else matters right now”.  
  
“Understood,” Lelouch said as they rushed aboard the ship and rushed inside.  
  
Oklahoma led them through the ship. Lelouch had to admit, this was quite the advance looking ship, almost as advanced as the ships of Britannia's navy, just unable to fly.  
  
He could really do with a flying command ship and an army of Knightmares right about now. That would show the sirens a thing or two.  
  
Soon they walked into the ship's bridge. It was quite an impressive room with everything someone would need to command a fleet and more, as well as control the ship. Everything looked top of the line, with a large table surrounded by several control consoles and, strangely, a raised platform surrounded by handrails just in front of the table. There were several girls there as well, probably Kansen who's ship was destroyed before they could manifest their rigging.  
  
“Welcome to the command room, commander,” Oklahoma said as they walked in “There normally would be a lot more people in here, but with the death of all our command staff, we're having to make do with Kansen who have lost their ships,” she said as they walked over to the central table.  
  
There were two girls at the table. One, dressed similarly to Oklahoma was shouting into a radio, the other, wearing a blue uniform, was busy doing what looked like maintenance on the table.  
  
“-focus flack fire around the civilian bunkers and major population areas. We can't let the sirens butcher any more people” the Kansen dressed similarly to Oklahoma said into the radio “And find the command Kansen, we can't operate this thing without her” she said before she put the radio down. She then turned to face them “Oklahoma, I'm glad to see you. I hope that this is the royal navy commander I spoke to”.  
  
“Indeed. Lelouch-” Lelouch said before Nevada interrupted him by throwing a pair of gloves at him.  
  
“No time for introductions sir, just get these on,” the battleship said before turning to the two girls working on the table “Arizona, hows it going down there?” she asked.  
  
“Almost, got it. There” the woman, Arizona replied before she got out from beneath the table and closed up the hatch “It's done. The operations table is now fully functional. Now all we need is for the command Kansen to show up. Where even is she?”.  
  
“I don't know” Nevada replied, “Last I heard she was leaving the academy. I haven't heard anything about her since”.  
  
“Command Kansen on the bridge- OH FUCK!” a voice shouted as someone rushed into the bridge. Lelouch, who had managed to get the gloves Nevada had passed to him, barely had time to turn and face the newcomer before they barged right into him, causing both of them to collapse onto the floor.  
  
“Ok, that's going to leave a mark,” a very familiar voice remarked as the girl sat up, bruising her head. Lelouch got up as well and looked at the girl who had rammed straight into him. For the second time that day, he was shocked by who he saw.  
  
“Milly!” Lelouch exclaimed as he looked at her with a mixed look of surprise, shock, and fear.  
  
Milly Ashford, the student council president at Ashford Academy, and the cause for most of his problems whilst he was there, looked at him with a confused look “Who's Milly?” she asked.  
  
Ah, so she's another Kansen who just so happens to look like someone he knew from his own world. And seeing that she announced herself as the command Kansen, he would be spending a lot of time around her. Great.  
  
Just when he thought he had enough problems with lookalike Kansen.  
  
“Well, this is extremely awkward,” Oklahoma said sounding slightly confused.  
  
“We can sort this out later. Right now, we've got a battle to fight” Nevada said before she helped both Lelouch and the command Kansen up “Lelouch, get commanding. Shikikan, do your thing”.  
  
“Shikikan. Your name's Shikikan?” Lelouch said sounding surprised.  
  
Note to self, changed her name as soon as possible.  
  
“I know, it's a bad name for a Kansen. But it's the name of the ship, so it's also my name” the command Kansen, Shikikan, said sounding slightly annoyed “Oh well, we can worry about that later. We've got a battle to win” she said with a familiar flair before jumping over onto the raised platform. The instant she did so everything in the room turned to like, screens turned on, the platform started to glow, and the table in front of him displayed a very accurate hologram of the surrounding area, but it lacked anything that marked the location of the Kansen or Sirens.  
  
“Command systems fully operational,” Shikikan said, but her voice had changed. It was flat, almost robotic “The Shikikan is ready to commence command operations”.  
  
“Good, now we have a chance to survive this,” Nevada said with a smile before turning to Lelouch “You're now in command, sir. Don't try to do anything with the ships more advanced systems, as their not fully working at the moment. Just focus of commanding the fleet”.  
  
“Don't worry, I won't try anything stupid” Lelouch said with a smile, he then turned back to the command table “Give me fleet-wide comms” he ordered.  
  
“Affirmative, comm systems active” Shikikan responded, and Nevada passed him the radio she had been using.  
  
Lelouch took the radio and spoke into it “All Kansen and Azur Lane military personal. This is commander Lelouch Lamperouge of the Royal Navy. I am taking command of the defence of Azur Main and the surrounding city. All combat units are to report in and confirm their operational status”.  
  
He put down the radio and waited for a response. Luckily, he didn't have to wait long.  
  
“This is Queen Elizabeth of the Royal Navy, reporting in commander,” the voice of Queen Elizabeth said over the comms, and a dot representing her appeared on the holographic map. Soon several more kansen reported in, with dots representing them appearing on the map.  
  
He smiled as more and more confirmations came in, and the map filled with dots, and they were not just representing the kansen under his command. AA emplacements, marine units, mass-produced ships, aircraft both manned and kansen controlled, and siren contacts as well. He knew exactly where everything in the battle was, and could now effectively command the battle.  
  
It was a mess out there, but that wasn't really a problem for him, as it shouldn't be too difficult to fix it and restore order amongst the confused combat units that were scattered about the battlefield.  
  
“Well then, Sirens,” Lelouch said as he flexed his fingers, and pulled out the king piece he had in his trouser pocket “Let's see how well you play”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter, another thing for Lelouch to worry about. He's got a lot on his plate at the moment, and that's not including the kansen who look like people from his own world
> 
> Also, one question. If more girls from the Code Geass world show up, what ship would they be.


	14. Chapter 14

Restoring the fleet to some semblance of order was remarkably easy now that the command ship was functional. The detail it gave him of the battlefield was impressive. He knew precisely where everything was.  
  
He started off by falling the Eagle Union Kansen back from the front lines, allowing the fresh Royal Navy and Sakura Empire Kansen to engage the Sirens.  
  
Once the Eagle Union Kansen had fallen back and been reorganised, he split the EU Kansen into two groups, those who could still fight, and those who were too weak or too damaged to continue to fight. Those who could still fight were either sent back to the front lines or held back to defend key areas from air attacks. The damaged Kansen were moved to areas that were safe and secure from Siren air attacks.  
  
Once the fleet had been properly organised, all Lelouch had to do now was to defeat the Siren fleet. A remarkably simple task due to the number of carriers he had under his command, and the number of AA emplacements. The Siren aircraft were quickly witted down by a combination of fighter and AA gunfire, leaving very few of their aircraft in the air. Once air superiority had been achieved, mopping up the remaining Sirens was easy. Too easy.  
  
The Sirens were far more advanced than the Kansen and greatly outnumbered them eight to one. Yet his forces were now tearing straight through them, which was not what was happening when he first took command of the fleet. Plus he swore that half the siren fleet had disappeared whilst he was reorganising the Eagle Union Kansen. And he certainly didn't destroy them. And where the hell was Purifier? She was the one leading this assault, yet according to Nevada, she disappeared mysteriously right after the second distress call was sent.  
  
He had read up on the Sirens on the way here. He had a lot of free time, after all, might as well learn a bit more about the Sirens. Purifier was a high ranking Siren, a unique and dangerous one at that. She commands Siren forces during their attacks and is known to be very deadly in combat. It was unheard of to see her retreat from combat, especially when the Sirens were winning.  
  
What the hell was she planning?.

  


Siren fleet. Just outside of radar range.  
  
Purifier smiled as she watched the Azur Lane Kansen fight the fleet she left behind. As much as she would have loved to keep fighting them, Lelouch and the fleet of Kansen he was with showed up, so she had to fall back, least she accidentally killed him. And that would piss Observer off a lot. So, a sneaky retreat was in order. She had already completed her objective. The commander of the base was already dead, so the attack could be weakened without causing any problems.  
  
She took half the fleet with her as well and told the Sirens still engaged with the Kansen to be defeated. Which was what they were currently doing.  
  
“Perfect. Our forces are getting flattened” Purifier said with a smile “Our objective is complete. All we need to do is wait for the forces still engaged to sink, then we can retreat”.  
  
“Oh. And I wanted to sink something today” a rather sad looking Purichi said, “Why did you keep me back anyway?”.  
  
“Because, my little Purichi. Had you joined me in the attack, then the Azur Lane will know of your existence” Purifier replied, “And if they know that there are two of me, then they will be shiting themselves. Besides. Now is not the time to reveal you”.  
  
“And when is the best time to reveal my existence?” Purichi asked.  
  
“When the emotional impact of there being two Purifiers will be at it's strongest” Purifier replied with a grin “When the Azur Lane girls morale is at it's highest, and when they think they have us at our lowest. We will reveal you to them, and really make them panic. But for now, watch and learn from your elders” she said before she looked at her younger self with a smile “Besides, we have thousands of simulations, some of which are utterly useless to us. I'm sure we can let you, Observer Mini and Tessy play around in a few of them”.  
  
Purichi grinned at the news. An entire simulation, just for her to have fun in. This will be fun.  
  
A Scavenger then floated over to them “Purifier” the Scavenger said “The forces remaining at the Azur Lane are almost defeated. There are only a few of them left” she reported.  
  
“That was quick!” Purifier said sounding surprised “How did they eradicate them so quickly?”.  
  
“I think it might have something to do with that human commander, Lelouch Lamperouge” Scavenger theorised “Ever since he got onboard the ALS Shikikan, the Azur Laners have been much more organised”.  
  
“Oh, so the rumours of his tactical ability's are true” Purifier said with a smile “I should have left some more forces behind. Just imagine the combat data we could gain by fighting him,” she said “Fall everyone back to the nearest mirror sea, we're leaving” she ordered.  
  
The remaining Siren's turned around and retreated, leaving the one's fighting the Kansen behind to sink. Which didn't really bother any of them, as death was more of an inconvenience for them. They could just download into a new body when the old one dies.

  


Royal Navy fleet, Mamala Bay.  
  
“The Sirens are retreating my Queen,” Warspite said as she pulled her sword out of the chest of a Siren Chaser.  
  
“Good. Another victory for the Royal Navy” Queen Elizabeth said with a smile “I see the Bismarck was not a fluke. Lelouch can command fleets effectively, very effectively. I've never seen anyone command a fleet with such finesse before, or reorganise a disorganised force so quickly. You're sure Hood found him on a merchant ship?”.  
  
“She did my Queen” Warspite replied, “All the Kansen with her say the same as well. He was just an unassuming young man before they let him take command, after that they started to suspect something. Hood theorised that, behind that polite demeanour of his, lies an unparalleled determination” she said, “She didn't say what he was determined to do, but she said that, whatever it was, he would be willing to die to achieve his goal”.  
  
Elizabeth gulped “Die. What was he planning to do, go to war against his own country to get back at his father?”.  
  
“Probably, he was very young when his father sent him to Japan” Warspite replied, “It begs the question, just who was his parents and how powerful were they”.  
  
“Hello queeny!” Upholder said loudly as she surfaced right next to Elizabeth.  
  
The battleship jumped back in shock “Upholder. What the fuc-. Why are you here?” she demanded.  
  
“To deliver my report,” Upholder said calmly, “You asked us to spy on things for you”.  
  
“Oh, yes, yes we did,” Elizabeth said with a fake smile “Please, deliver your report”.  
  
“You were right to suspect the Sakura Empire. They have an unusually large number of submarines with them, twenty-eight in total. Far too many to have escorting a carrier fleet” Upholder reported  
  
“Twenty-eight! That's far too many to have with a carrier fleet” Elizabeth said sounding surprised “Anything else?”.  
  
“Negative. We've been unable to listen in on any of their communications. They're using a new code, so we can't break it” Upholder replied, “Also there's no sign of Purifier”.  
  
“That's strange. Purifier isn't the kind to disappear during battle” Warspite said, “What are the Sirens up to”.  
  
“Whatever it is, we will have to inform Lelouch about this. He might be able to theorise what the sirens are here for” Elizabeth said, “Until then, continue to mop up the remaining Sirens. And keep an eye on the Sakura Empire Kansen. their up to something”.  
  
“As you wish, my queen,” Warspite said turned and went back to fighting the Sirens.  
  
“I'll see you later queeny” Upholder grinned before she dived below the waves.  
  
Elizabeth sighed before she fired a salvo at the nearest Siren. They were up to something. Admittedly the sirens were always up to something, so, no change there. But still, this was strange, even for them. It wasn't like then to attack the most heavily defended port on earth for no reason. They were here for something. The real question was what were they here for?

  


Sakura Empire fleet, Mamala Bay.  
  
Akagi watched as the remnants of the Siren fleet were sunk. It was oddly satisfying to reduce them to scrap metal. Mainly because she was doing her job and protecting people from them, but also because they had done her job for her. Everything that she and her fleet were supposed to bomb had already been bombed by the Sirens. So there was no need for her to discretely drop anything on the base because it had already been bombed.  
  
It felt satisfying that she didn't have to attack the Azur Lane now. Whilst she was all for this war in the first place, launching a sneak attack on someone without sending them a proper war declaration first was just indecent.  
  
Had she been in command, she would have waited for the declaration to be sent before attacking. But she didn't have the authority to do so. All she could do was sit back and follow the orders her human commanders gave her.  
  
Kaga sailed beside her “Akagi, the sirens have been defeated. We are just mopping up the survivors now”.  
  
“Good. They may have done our job for us, but they are still sirens. Sinking them is our job” Akagi said “Any news from high-command?” she asked.  
  
“Yes. Their holding off sending the war declaration by a week. They've also recalled all other attack fleets” Kaga replied, “We won't be able to launch any surprise attacks against the eagle union. But we won't be caught in hostile waters when we do go to war against them”.  
  
“Good. I do not want to have to fight my way out of here” Akagi said, “By the way, Lelouch turned out to be quite the good commander. The way he commanded the entire fleet. He could easily give our own commanders a run for their money”.  
  
“Indeed. He knew exactly where we needed to go and what we needed to attack” Kaga said, “He will be quite the dangerous opponent in the upcoming war”.  
  
“Indeed he will. And eliminating him will not be easy. With command ability's like that, and the benefits of having the Shikikan under his control. He will be our greatest adversary” Akagi said with a smile “He will be a fun one to take down”.  
  
“So, what's our plan now?”.  
  
“Well first, we help Lelouch get the position of the command of the Azur Lane. After everything we've done to help the Royal Navy get here, we might as well have the decency to help them. This entire plan was our idea after all. Then we get to know the new commander a bit before we leave. It's shouldn't take us more than a few days”.  
  
“Planing on playing chess against him?” Kaga asked.  
  
Akagi giggled “Why of course. After all, as Amagi used to say, chess is an easy way determine someone's command ability's. Unless that person doesn't know how to play chess. Then it's worthless”.  
  
“Well, let's hope that he does know chess,” Kaga said as their planes returned to them “It would be rather boring if he didn't”.

  


Eagle Union fleet, Middle Loch.  
  
“We need more bandages over here, now!” the repair ship Vestal shouted, trying her best to keep Helena's arm together.  
  
The light cruiser and her sister St. Louis had been protecting the command building from enemy air attacks, but thanks to a miscommunication they were not supplied with more ammo when they were running low. So when they eventually ran out, they became prime targets for a swarm of dive bombers. St. Louis only took a few minor hits, but her sister Helena wasn't so lucky.  
  
“Will she be alright?” a very concerned St. Louis asked, a small trail of blood was dripping down the side of her face.  
  
“She will be fine, I just need to stabilise her,” Vestal said as a Builn rushed over to her carrying some bandages “I could really use your help helping the less injured Kansen. There are a lot of casualties and not a lot of people to look after them”.  
  
“Of course, I'll do what I can,” St. Louis said before she sailed off towards a group of lightly injured Kansen.  
  
Vestal took the bandages from the Builn and continued to work on Helena's wounds. All around her were other Eagle Union Kansen, all of whom were too injured to continue fighting. She was glad that the Royal Navy commander had fallen all the Eagle Union girls back behind the front lines. Normally their commanders would force them back into the fight. But this one was keeping the exhausted Kansen back behind the fresh Kansen, well away from the fight.  
  
It was nice to have a commander who cared about the Kansen under his command. It made her job of healing those too wounded to fight much easier, as she didn't have to repair them whilst under fire.  
  
Still, she wished that he had come earlier before the Siren attack hit. They might not have suffered so badly had he been. The way he turned the battle around and crushed the Sirens was very efficient, almost poetic.  
  
She was already developing a picture of what this new commander was like, and he was shaping up to be better than anyone else they had commanded them. Not only did it look like he cared about the Kansen under his command, but he was also better than any of the other commanders they've had previously. Even previous Azur Lane command, Grant Kline, wasn't this good. He would have turned tail and ran, or died with the rest of the base command staff.  
  
She would very much like to meet this Lelouch Lamperouge. Just not right now, as she had a lot of patients to look after right now.

  


?????????  
“The wolfs stark their prey. Watching from the shadows and waiting for the right moment to strike. Yet their greed and lust for power blind them. They underestimate their prey, and will strike too soon, letting their prey slip between their fingers”

  


“Watch your back, my Black King. For you are now … prey”.


	15. Chapter 15

Three Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters stormed through the air, heading directly to the besieged island of O'ahu, and the Azur Lane main base.  
  
Standing on the three aircraft were the three sisters of the Yorktown class, Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown herself. Surfing on top of their aircraft. Behind then were the rest of their air-wings, totalling two-hundred and seventy aircraft. The full might of their air-power. When news that Azur Main was under attack by Sirens, the three sisters launched their entire air-wings and headed directly to the besieged island. Intent in making the Sirens pay tenfold for the attack.  
  
“We're almost there” Yorktown reported over the radio “We've just entered radar range of O'ahu”.  
  
“Thank god for that” a very relieved Cleveland shouted as she franticly held onto the fighter Enterprise had put her on.  
  
The light cruiser and her sisters Columbia, Denver, and Montpelier had been with the Yorktown sisters as part of a training exercise. So when the distress call went out, Enterprise had put them onto some fighters and told them to hold on.  
  
“How the hell can you three surf on those planes?” Denver asked loudly.  
  
“Practice” Hornet replied calmly “Lots and lots of practice”.  
  
“Any word from the base?” Enterprise asked.  
  
“No. Not since Nevada sent that distress call” Yorktown replied, “The radio tower may have been hit during the attack”.  
  
“So we have no idea what's happening,” Enterprise said, “Hornet, try and get in contact with Azur Main. We need to know what's happening”.  
  
“Rodger” Hornet said before switching to long-range comms “This is USS Hornet to anyone at Azur Main, we are on approach to assist in the defence against the Sires”.  
  
“Hornet. Thank god you're alright” the voice of Nevada said over the comms “I take it you're with your sisters”.  
“Indeed, Enterprise and Yorktown are with me” Hornet reported, “We also have Cleveland, Columbia, Denver, and Montpelier with us”.  
  
“I think I'm going to be airsick!” Denver shouted.  
  
An auditable sigh could be heard coming from the other end of the comm “Please tell me that you're not carrying them on your planes?”.  
  
“It's the fastest way to get back to Azur Main” Hornet replied “Anyway, what's the situation over there?” she asked.  
  
“Well, sadly you girls are late to the party. The situation has already been dealt with” Nevada replied, “The battle ended not ten minutes ago. We're currently assessing the damage, and looking for survivors amongst the rubble”.  
  
“Wait, you mean, we missed the entire fight!” Hornet shouted, sounding very annoyed “How!”.  
  
“The Royal Navy commander who was due to arrive today took command” Nevada explained “We had to use the ALS Shikikan's command systems, as someone in the Royal Navy decided to send him out here without a command ship. I believe someone in the Royal Islands is about to lose his job. We also had a Sakura Empire fleet show up out of the blue to help us. They really helped us out in fighting off the sirens. Also, Purifier fucked off halfway through the battle, so, that made things much easier”.  
  
“Purifier, fucked off. That's new” Hornet said sounding surprised “I've never heard of her retreating before. You're sure someone didn't just get a lucky shot on her and sunk her”.  
  
“Negative, she never got into range of our guns,” Nevada said, “She was spotted leading the attack. But after the Royal Navy and Sakura Empire showed up, she just vanished. I'm glad she decided to leave. We might still be fighting if she was still here”.  
  
“Ok, well that's annoying. I wanted to bomb some sirens today” Hornet said sounding annoyed “Oh well, it there anything we can help out with?” she asked.  
  
“We need help moving debris from the command building. The entire command centre was levelled by bombs and we're currently removing it in our search for survivors” Nevada replied, “The Royal Navy commander is also there, helping out the best he can, but he could really do with some help”.  
  
“Don't worry, we'll do what we can. Hornet out” Hornet said before switching back to short-range “Ok girls, looks like the Sirens have already been defeated” she reported.  
  
“Already, that was quick,” Yorktown said sounding surprised “How big was the Siren force?”.  
  
“Big. It had Purifier leading it” Hornet replied, “But she disappeared halfway through the battle. The Royal Navy and Sakura Empire also showed up during the fight, so we had a lot more combat units in the area”.  
  
“Wait, what is a Royal Navy and Sakura Empire fleet doing there?” Cleveland asked.  
  
“The Royal's were here with the Royal Navy candidate for the Azur Lane” Hornet replied, “It's probably the same for the Sakura Empire”.  
  
“Well, I wish them luck, because our higher-ups will not make it easy for them,” Enterprise said before she and her sisters started recalling their planes, keeping the one's that had someone on them active. It would be very bad to recall those now.  
  
As they got closer and closer to Azur Main, the extent of the damaged caused by the Siren attack became more and more obvious. Large fires raged across the city of Honolulu, Hickam Field had been levelled, and Azur Main itself was in ruins, with only a few buildings undamaged by the attack. The surrounding sea was full of the wreaks of destroyed ships, thankfully none of them were Kansen.  
  
“Oh my god!” Cleveland shuddered they got closer to the island. She had seen what damage Sirens have done to over city's far too much, and it never got easier to see. They were always so brutal with their attacks. But it was much worse here, as this was their home. An impenetrable fortress that no siren force could attack successfully. Obviously, the Sirens decided to prove them wrong.  
  
“H-how could this have happened” Montpelier fretted as they got closer to the devastation “We had everything here. The Excalibur defence network, Lance Of Longinus, even the Shroud of Turin. Where the hell are they? Why weren't they used” she demanded, tears falling from her eyes.  
  
“I don't know” Enterprise replied sombrely “But I'm bloody well going to find out,” she said through gritted teeth. The sirens will pay for this day. She will make them pay tenfold, no, a hundredfold for this day. She will make them rue the day they invaded Earth's waters.  
  
“Hey, is that Akagi and Kaga down there?” Hornet asked, pointing down at the ocean.  
  
Enterprise looked down, and sure enough, standing at the entrance to Pearl Harbor were Akagi and Kaga. Maryland was with them as well.  
  
“Indeed it is. And Maryland is with them as well” Yorktown replied, “Let's meet up with them, and see if we can get a better idea on what happened before we meet the commander” she said.  
  
“Copy that sis” Enterprise acknowledged before the remaining planes dived down towards the water. Skimming just above the surface of the water and allowing their passengers to jump off. Well, the three Yorktown sisters jumped off. Cleveland and her sisters just fell off onto the water.  
  
Yorktown and her sisters sailed up to the two carriers and battleship, coming to a stop just in front of them.  
  
“Akagi, Kaga, Maryland. It's nice to see that you three are alright!” Yorktown said as she stopped in front of the three Kansen, only just noticing that Maryland's arm was in a sling.  
  
“Yorktown. Glad to see that you and your sisters are alright” Maryland said as a smile formed on her face “And the Cleveland sisters are here to. Good. I was hoping you lot hadn't been caught up in this mess”.  
  
“What happened here?” Hornet asked as Cleveland and her sisters sailed up behind them.  
  
“The Sirens happened” Maryland replied “They showed up out of the blue and attacked us. We tried to get the defences up, but the Lurkers tore the Excalibur defence network apart before we could activate it. The Shroud of Turin was useless as they went straight through it. That shield could protect this island from a direct hit from a nuke, and they went straight through it like it wasn't even there” she explained with a frown “As for the Lance. Purifier deflected the shot right back at it, destroying it. That was the most powerful weapon we had, and she just hit it back like a ping-pong ball”.  
  
“No” Montpelier whimpered as she fell to her knees “We spent so long developing those. They were supposed to form an impenetrable shield around us, a shield that could be developed around other city's. And the Sirens just tore straight through it like it was nothing” she cried.  
  
“Montpelier, calm down. Don't fall apart on me now” Cleveland said as she rushed over to her sister and put her hands on her shoulders “Your stronger then this sis” she said, trying her best to calm down her sister.  
  
Montpelier took several deep breathers before she calmed down “Your right, I need to be calm right now. Panicking won't help” she said, “We need to be ready, just in case the Sirens return”.  
  
“Good. Stay strong sis” Cleveland said, patting her sister on the shoulder before she stood back up and turned to face the carriers “Sorry about that. The attack must be having an effect on her”.  
  
“Don't worry, she's not the only one who's breaking down because of this” Akagi said, “This base was supposed to be our greatest fortress, yet the Sirens tore it down like it was nothing. It will take us a long time to recover from this. Physically and mentally”.  
  
“It was a wake-up call,” Kaga said sombrely “A reminder that, the stronger our deferences, the more it hurts when they are torn down beneath us,” she said before she turned to face the devastation “This defeat, will take a long time to heal”.  
  
Kaga was right, this battle hurt a lot more than any other. This wasn't a raid on a coastal town or city, it was a siege against their home, the main base of the Azur Lane. The effects of this battle will be much, much harder on them, and last much, much longer.  
  
“The Sirens will pay for this” Enterprise growled, her hands clenched into fists by her sides.  
  
“And they will, in time,” Yorktown said, “Right now this base needs our help”.  
  
“Indeed it does,” Akagi said “Kaga and I were just about to head over to the command building to meet up with Lelouch Lamperouge, the Royal Navy commander. Your welcome to come along if you like. The more people we have the faster we can search for survivors” she said before turning to Maryland “You'll be ok out here by yourself, Maryland?”.  
“I'll be fine” Maryland replied, “I can't help as much because of my arm, but if the Sirens do come back, I will be able to help fight back”.  
  
“Rodger” Yorktown said “Alright lady's, let's see what we can help out with,” she said before they sailed off towards the remains of the command building.  
  
As they sailed past the devastation and wrecks of ships, they saw several submarines carrying the drowned remains of human soldiers, base personal, and civilians from the water and onto a beach. Several of them snarled. The sirens known as lurkers were well known for dragging people down into the water and drowning them, the sadistic bastards. Out of all the siren mass-produced models, the lurker's were the most hated and despised.  
  
“Bloody lurkers. How the hell did they get past the sonar network” Cleveland snarled.  
  
“One of the sonar sensors was down for the day for maintenance. A lurker was able to sneak past and disabled the entire network” Akagi said.  
  
“That should not have been possible. That network overlaps itself” Enterprise said, “Even if one was to go down, there would be two more covering it”.  
  
“I don't know,” Akagi said, “We will need to mount a thorough investigation after this, just to find out how this went so badly for us”.  
  
“Agreed. Those lurkers should not have made it in so far into our defences without us detecting them” Enterprise said.  
  
They soon reached the command building. Well, what was left of it anyway. It was nothing more then a large pile of rubble, with a large number of humans, Manjuu and Kansen removing rubble and pulling out the remains of the dead.  
  
As they rushed over, they passed by a group of Manjuu carrying submarine on a stretcher. She didn't recognise her, but judging by her swimsuit, she was probably a Gato class submarine. They let the medical crew pass by before proceeding towards the rubble.  
  
They soon saw Queen Elizabeth standing by the rubble, directing several Royal Navy Kansen as they searched the rubble.  
  
“Elizabeth” Yorktown said as they walked up to her.  
  
The battleship turned to face them “Ah, Yorktown. I'm glad to see that you and your battlegroup are unharmed” she said before turning back towards the rubble “As you can see, the Sirens hit this place hard. So hard in fact, that I doubt that we will find any survivors. We did get lucky, however. West Virginia was in the building at the time, she managed to save the lives of several submarines by activating her rigging and providing them with a shield as a bomb hit. Had she not done that, the Eagle Union would have lost a significant number of their submarines”.  
  
“Thank god she was able to save them,” Yorktown said.  
  
“What were they even doing here anyway?” Hornet asked.  
  
“According to West, Dace bumped into a new Gato class submarine, USS Ayumodoki” Elizabeth said, “Before you knew it, every Gato class on-site was here to meet their new sister. The Siren attack started soon after that”.  
  
“Well, I'm glad that their all ok,” Cleveland said before looking around “So, where's your commander?” she asked.  
  
“Look behind you,” Elizabeth said with an almost annoyed look on her face.  
  
They all turned around and saw the sorry sight of someone wearing a Royal Navy commander uniform, being carried by Hermione. Said commander looked like he had just run the London marathon, twice.  
  
An annoyed sigh escaped Elizabeth's lips as Hermione rushed over to them and put the command down onto his feet.  
  
“Thanks for that, Hermione,” the Royal Navy command said politely, breathing heavily.  
  
“Your welcome commander,” Hermione said with a bow.  
  
“You are seriously out of shape, Lelouch,” Elizabeth said with a frown “Seriously, someone wearing a massive mascot costume could outrun you”.  
  
“Sorry, your majesty, but running, really isn't my strong suit” the commander, Lelouch said as he straitened himself out “Physical education was one of my weaker subjects, I'm afraid”.  
  
Enterprise gave Lelouch a quick once over. He looked young, with short raven hair similar to Ark Royal's hair, and purple eyes that were darker than the Enterprise's own eyes. He was also charming and attractive. Very attractive considering some of the looks the other girls were giving him. Akagi in particular was giving him a rather questionable look.  
  
“Your, rather young for a commander,” Cleveland said with an awkward smile.  
  
“Young he may be, but he's also quite smart” Elizabeth interjected as she walked around the group and stood next to Lelouch “He personally commanded the fleet that took out Bismarck, and humiliated the siren Tester. And he took command of the defence of Azur Main and won without a single Kansen casualty,” she said proudly “Believe me lady's. He may be young, but he is a very good commander”.  
  
“We can worry about his age later,” Kaga said, “Right now, he's the only commander on site. Everyone else is sadly dead”.  
  
“Don't worry about me, I can ensure you lady's that I will do everything I can to help this base recover from this attack,” Lelouch said, “But right now, we have to search for survivors amongst the rubble. As well as the dead. I would appreciate your help in doing so”.  
  
“Don't worry commander, you will have our support” Enterprise said with a quick salute. A motion that was quickly copied by the other Kansen she was with.  
  
“Thank you,” Lelouch said with a polite smile. He then started giving them orders on where to go and which buildings needed their help removing debris from. Enterprise had to admit, that despite his young age, he knew exactly where they were most needed.  
  
She wasn't going to trust him just yet, not till she has seen his command ability in battle personally. But for now, she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

  


??????????????  
  
“Nin to Observer Alpha. Infiltration successful. Also, who's the fucking retard who almost dropped a bomb on me?!”.  
  
“Oops”.


	16. Chapter 16

Azur Lane Academy. Five hours after the Siren attack on Azur Main.  
  
Lelouch sat at the head of the large table, listening and taking in all the information he was being told. It had been five hours since the attack, all that time had been spent searching for survivors, gathering the dead, and investigating how such a devastating attack was allowed to happen.  
  
They had relocated to Azur Main's backup HQ, the Azur Academy. Located along the shore of the West Loch, the Azur Academy was the main source of learning for all Kansen. Within its walls held everything the world had on the Sirens, from ship model's, capability's, strengths and weaknesses, as well as everything a Kansen needs to know about navy warfare.  
  
He was currently sitting at the head of a large wooden table, with him were the Kansen Queen Elizabeth, Akagi, Enterprise, the Command Kansen Shikikan, and Chloe Wood, the only member of the Azur Lane oversight committee who survived the attack.  
  
The Azur Lane oversight committee, or ALOC, is an organisation that oversees the Azur Lane's progress in protecting the world against the sirens. It was a sensible thing to have, as it helped keep the Azur Lane in check. There were other members across the world who were still alive, but Chloe was the only on-site member to survive the attack.  
  
Chloe was a youngish woman with blond hair, brown eyes, with an almost round face. She was wearing a navy blue suit and trousers, whist shirt, and smart shoes. Her arm was also in a sling, curiosity of a siren aircraft crashing dangerously close to her.  
  
“Civilian casualties are unsurprisingly low. Less then three-hundred dead and only a few more wounded” Enterprise reported sombrely, holding a tablet and reading through the casualty report “This can be credited to people being far more ready for an attack. Military casualties are still being counted, but we estimate it to be somewhere between four-to-five thousand dead, and over three-thousand wounded. We have also confirmed the deaths of the entire command staff and the ALOC members on site. As for Kansen casualties, whilst we have lost zero Kansen, all Eagle Union Kansen stationed here have sustained heavy damaged from the attack, and require repairs to their ships. This has left the Eagle Union Pacific Fleet out of action, with only a few Kansen well enough to fight” she reported “As for the damaged, all facility's save for the ALS Shikikan's hanger has been destroyed, and are unsafe to use. We are now relying on backup facility's to keep everything operational” she said before she sat back down.  
  
“This attack couldn't have happened at a worse time for us,” Queen Elizabeth said sombrely “With the previous commander dead, and all on-site command staff killed during that attack, the Azur Lane is now at it's weakest. We can't command the world's fleets effectively now. And with the Ironblood and the Crimson Axis still a threat, we have far too many problems and no one to lead us” she said, “And, seeing that we, the Royal Navy, are the 'only' faction to have a candidate for the position of Commander of the Azur Lane, we request that Lelouch Lamperouge be appointed to the position of temporal commander of the Azur Lane”.  
  
Lelouch smirked slightly. Whilst the position of temporal commander would only give him a limited amount of power over the Azur Lane, and he would have to step down once a second commander from a different faction was selected. It provided him with just enough time and power to get a few plans of his moving, including key parts of the Royal Navy's reformation plan for the AL. There was just one problem with this, at least three members of the ALOC were required to make the decision, and there was only one on-site still alive.  
  
Chloe pinched the bridge of her nose “I'll get in contact with the rest of the ALOC. Whilst I don't have the authority to appoint you to the position of temporal commander, I can appoint you to emergency commander. Just until I can get in contact with my superiors” she said “Although, considering the situation, I doubt they will go against it. The AL needs someone to lead it, and we can't afford to wait two to four weeks for the Eagle Union to select a new candidate”.  
  
“Of course,” Lelouch said “I'll accept whatever decision the committee makes. In the meantime, we should focus on getting this base operational again. The sooner we can do that, the sooner we can get back to fighting the Sirens”.  
  
“Agreed. Recovery of Azur Lane assets and Kansen should be our top priority” Enterprise said, “We have over thirty Kansen out there with heavy damaged, and another twenty who's rigging and ships are destroyed. If the Sirens launch another attack, then I don't think we will be able to survive”.  
  
“I don't think the Sirens will attack here again,” Lelouch said, and all eyes turned to him.  
  
“What do you mean by that?” Enterprise asked looking confused.  
  
“On my way here, I looked through the files on all Siren attacks that took place since their invasion started. Not a single one of them was against the Hawaiian Islands. Even before the Azur Lane was founded, these islands have not been attacked. Until today” Lelouch said “Plus this wasn't a normal Siren attack. Their normal MO is that strike hard and fast, causing large numbers of casualties before retreating. But they didn't do that here, they seemingly fought to the death. And Purifier disappeared early into the fight, so did half the Siren fleet”.  
  
“Wait what,” Akagi said sounding shocked. She had been unusually quiet during the meeting, saying very little whilst keeping her eyes glued on him.  
  
“I did a headcount of the Siren numbers when the Shikikan's command systems came online” Lelouch explained “Once I had finished re-organising the fleet, I did another count, and I noticed that half the siren fleet had vanished from the battle. The remaining Sirens fought to the death, which is something they don't often do” he said “The Sirens were here for something. I don't know what it was they were after, but they had a very good reason to attack Azur Main”.  
  
He allowed everyone a few moments to let the information sink in. The knowledge that the Sirens were looking for something was shocking. But it begged the question, what exactly were they looking for? There was too little information to work with at the moment, and there were a lot of more pressing issues that needed dealing with, like getting this base back up to a functional position.  
  
“Do you think they found what they were looking for?” Elizabeth asked.  
  
“Probably” Lelouch replied “Purifier did retreat early into the battle, so we can only conclude that whatever it was they were looking for, they managed to retrieve it. Annoyingly there isn't much we can do about it. They left us crippled and got away scot-free. It would be at least a month before we can even think about fully investigating what the sirens came for. A small team of a few people could, but right not we have to focus the majority of our resources on repairing the damage they caused”.  
  
“Well, looks like we won't be doing much in the way of fighting the sirens for the next few weeks” Enterprise sighed before turning to Akagi “Akagi, any news from the Sakura Empire?” she asked.  
  
“No, nothing yet” Akagi replied, “I haven't heard anything from them since we sent them our report on the attack. Hopefully I'll hear something from them before nightfall”.  
  
“Good. You can report on what you hear from them in the morning” Lelouch said as he stood up “In the meantime, we should focus on clearing debris and recovering the dead. Once that is done, and the dead have been mourned, we can focus on repairing the damage. Then, and only then, can we focus on our primary objective. To take back the world's oceans from the Sirens. Everyone is dismissed for now”.  
  
Everyone save for Lelouch stood up and filed out of the room. He sat back down and started pondering today's events. Whilst this attack did delay several of his plans, in the long run, not much was affected. In fact, he might be able to bring a few plans forwards a bit. He would have to gamble with a few things first. The Royal Navy high command still didn't have much of an opinion on him. But, after the events of today, they might be a bit more willing to help him.  
  
Things were looking up for him.

  


Hamburg, Blohm & Voss shipyard.  
  
Blue eyes opened slowly as consciousness slowly returned. Bismarck, once the mightiest battleship in Europe, now crippled by a single shell to her magazine. She had no idea how long she had been out for. All she knew was that she was in some kind of bed, probably a medical one.  
  
She felt something resting against her side. She looked up and saw U-556 resting against her chest. She smiled, it was nice to see her little Parzival was close.  
  
“She's been spending all her free time here,” a voice said.  
  
Bismarck turned her head and saw Z23 standing at attention besides the bed.  
  
“Z23,” Bismarck said weakly “How long have I been out for?” she asked.  
  
“About a month” Z23 replied formally “The damage you received was quite severe. You're lucky to be alive after what happened to you”.  
  
“No need to be so formal Niimi,” Bismarck said quietly “I'm in no condition for formal meeting”.  
“Of course Bismarck,” Z23 said with a nod.  
  
The battleship smiled as she closed her eyes. She frowned as she reopened them “What happened?” she asked, “All I remember was my magazine exploding”.  
  
“After your magazine exploded, the U-boats 81, 96, and 557 all launched an attack against the Royal Navy fleet” Z23 reported, “This distracted the fleet long enough for U-556 to recover both yourself and Prinz Eugen. The U-boat fleet then retreated from the battlefield. The Royal Navy fleet didn't pursue”.  
  
The Royals didn't pursue, that was strange. They outnumbered them greatly, even with the unexpected U-boat support. They had several destroyers with them so they should have been able to death charge the living daylights out of the U-boats.  
  
“Why, didn't they, pursue us?” Bismarck asked, brushing a hand over U-556's head.  
  
“The Royals were more concerned with recovering Hood” Z23 replied, “She too suffered a fatal magazine detonation, caused by one of your shells. The fleet had also suffered heavy damage during the battle, so they probably were in no condition to risk a pursuit”.  
  
“I, got Hood. Did the Royals, recover her?”.  
  
“They did. But we don't know what her condition is”.  
  
Bismarck closed her eyes. Whilst she didn't voice it, she was glad that Hood had been recovered. She just hoped that the battlecruiser was coping as well as she was.  
  
“Do you, have anything about my sister?” the battleship asked.  
  
Z23 lowered her head “She's been relocated to Norway”.  
  
“What!” Bismarck shouted as she sat up, and instantly regretted it as she felt a sharp pain in her back. She cried out in pain as she fell back onto the bed, waking the resting U-556.  
  
“Lord Bismarck!” U-556 gasped as she woke up “Are you alright!?” she asked with a concerned look on her fine.  
“I'm fine” Bismarck replied through gritted teeth “I just did something I really shouldn't have,” she said before turning to Z23 “Why, was my sister sent to Norway?”.  
  
“High command sent her there to act as a deterrent against a Royal Navy invasion” Z23 replied, “Our defences are still quite weak up there, so having your sister up there would help deter such action”.  
  
Bismarck closed her eyes, and a single tear fell from her eye. Now she'll never be able to meet her sister. It would take months for her to recover from this, months that will be spent in a hospital bed. She so desperately wanted to see her sister, just for a moment. But now that would be impossible, even when she gets better. She doesn't have the power or authority to go to Norway, nor to bring her sister back to Germany.  
  
She opened her eyes again, and brushed the tears away “Are you ok lord Bismarck?” U-556 asked.  
  
“I'm fine” Bismarck replied, turning to look at the U-boat “Thanks for asking,” she said before turning back towards Z23 “Anything, else?”.  
  
“Well, progress on Friedrich der Große is proceeding ahead of schedule” the destroyer replied “The combat data recovered from your battle with the Royal Navy accelerated our progress on developing her. She should be finished by the end of the month. Also, we found out why Thunderchild was present at the battle” she said, “She was there acting as a command ship for a royal Navy commander”.  
  
“They had a commander at that battle,” Bismarck said sounding surprised “That would explain, the mass-produced destroyer, carrying several destroyers. No Kansen would come up with a strategy like that, out of the blue. I knew someone was commanding that fleet,” she said with a slight smile “Any idea on who the commander of the fleet is?”.  
  
“I'm afraid we don't know who it was who commanded the fleet” Z23 reported, “All we know is that it was a young commander of the Royal Navy who was in charge. We don't know anything else”.  
  
Bismarck nodded before turning her head towards the ceiling and closed her eyes once more. A young commander took her out, a good one as well. His grasp on navy combat strategy must be surprisingly good if he could ambush her with such an unexpected strategy. Packing several Kansen onto a mass-produced ship, quite the unexpected move. One could easily hide their true numbers like that.  
  
This commander was dangerous, very dangerous. There was no knowing what other tricks he had up his sleeve.  
  
“Bring me Roon,” Bismarck said as she opened her eyes once more.  
  
“Roon, commander,” Z23 said with a nervous look on her face “Your sure about that?”.  
  
“Yes, bring me the PR ship Roon, now!” Bismarck replied.  
  
Z23 gulped “Of course Lord Bismarck. I'll get her at once,” she said before she turned around, only to shriek in surprise when she saw Roon standing directly behind her.  
  
“You called,” the PR ship Roon said with a friendly smile.  
  
Bismarck felt her heart beating faster. She knew how terrifying Roon was, having been there when she was awoken. It was a bloody affair. The scientist working on her went a bit too far with the combat data they were feeding her, only giving her the bloodiest combat data they could find, resulting in her becoming a bit unstable and going on a rampage upon waking up.  
  
She was able to subdue her, but only after the PR ships had butchered everyone else present.  
  
“H-how did you get here so quickly?” Z23 asked, sounding completely terrified.  
  
“I was just walking by to visit Leipzig when I heard my name” Roon replied with a polite smile.  
  
“Leipzig?” Bismarck said sounding rather surprised “Why were you visiting her?” she asked.  
  
“Well, we're technically sisters” Roon replied “I am just an enlarged version of her hull, armed with a bigger gun, after all. So we're technically sisters, but only technically. I am, after all, a ship that never even existed, not even on the drawing board” she explained “So tell me, Lord Bismarck. Who do you want me to kill?” she asked as her eyes flashing red for a split second.


	17. Chapter 17

Lelouch didn't exactly have the best of nights, but it wasn't his worst either. The army camp beds that covered the floor of the AL academy gymnasia weren't exactly the warm, comfy beds he'd been sleeping in on the way here. But at least it was better than sleeping on a sandy floor.  
  
As the emergency commander of the AL, he did have a room all to himself, with a proper bed and all. But he gave that up to the light cruiser Helena. She had sustained heavy damage during the attack and there wasn't space in the hospital or medical room for her. So he donated his room to her, letting her recover there whilst he opted to stay in the gymnasia, which had been converted into temporal living quarters for the base personal.  
  
He did this for two reasons. One, Helena needed it more then he did. And two, it improved his reputation amongst the Kansen. They were too used to having commanders who didn't care about them. So, by being nice to them, and helping them out when needed, he will improve his reputation. This will help him greatly when it comes to selecting the next commander, as whilst the ALOC had the final say on who becomes the commander of the AL, the Kansen had a great deal of leverage when deciding who should be the next commander. It made sense, as this was the guy who would be commanding them.  
  
Before now, they chose the lesser of two evils. But, when it's a choice between a commander who would be nice to them and one who would not. The obvious choice would be to vote for the commander who had been nice to them. But he would have to be careful, some of them might get suspicions of him. Thinking that he's being nice so that they would pick him, only to start being mean to them once he was the commander.  
  
He would have to prove to them that he had no intention to be like the commanders they're used to.  
  
It puzzled him that so many people in the upper echelons of command would be so mean and aggressive towards the Kansen. Their mankind's only effective weapon against the Sirens. Treating them like lower class citizens was counterproductive. Something, or someone, must be turning the commanders against the Kansen they would command. It was impossible for so many people to act like this without good reason. And with how important the Kansen are in protecting humanity from the sirens, you would think they would be nice to them, and show them some respect.  
  
He would have to look into this, but at a later date. Right now, he had a base to run.  
  
Talking about a base to run, Chloe had been in contact with the rest of the ALOC. They had come to the decision to appoint him as the temporal commander of the Azur Lane. At least he could rely on them to make smart decisions.  
  
And so he settled down into the day to day life of running a navy port. It was child's play to get everything organised and sorted out. He had long since mastered the art of military logistics. An army is nothing without the surplus to run it. By the end of the first full day, he had managed to organise everything the island would need to fully recover from the attack. From materials to repair the damaged buildings and ships, to transports to move that material to the island. As well as Kansen to escort those ships here safely. Once that was done, all he needed to do was keep the base running smoothly. Not an easy task when you're running a damaged navy base from a school.  
  
The Azur Lane Academy itself was surprisingly well equipped to handle operating as a backup command building. In fact, it had a backup commander's office. Which, according to several Kansen, looked exactly like the commander's office in the main command building. But, he has worked with less.  
  
He was currently sitting in the office, looking through the previous commander's files. Some of the things he read disgusted him. He lost count how many files he found there were full of complaint forms that had been signed to be ignored. The majority were simply minor complaints, but there were a few that disgusted him. And the previous commander had ignored all of them, letting these men and women walk away without punishment.  
  
He will have to do something about this. People shouldn't be allowed to get away with such disgraceful acts. Whilst he couldn't do anything about the one's that had already been signed, a large number of complaints had arrived since Grant's death. And as the temporal commander, he had the authority to deal with these people. He won't be ignoring these transgressions. He would make sure these people are appropriately punished for their actions. That is, once he had the time to do it, as he was quite busy with other things at the moment.  
  
“Ugh” the command Kansen, Shikikan, groaned as she collapsed into secretary ship's desk chair “Why did Gaunt have so much unorganized stuff in his office?” she asked.  
  
“Because he's been dead for over a month” Lelouch replied calmly “Stuff like this piles up when there isn't anyone to sort through it”.  
  
“I know,” Shikikan said sounding annoyed “But still, you would think the base commander would be allowed to look through this stuff”.  
  
“It's a matter of rank, CK” Lelouch replied as he organised the paperwork into different piles “Not everyone is allowed to organise these, let alone look at it. Still, I question why I have the authority to sign some of these. Surly someone else should sign some of these”.  
  
“C.K.?” Shikikan said, sitting up and looking at him with a confused look.  
  
“Yep. C.K.” Lelouch replied calmly, “I thought it would be better to call you that then commander in Japanese,” he said, which was partially true. It wasn't difficult to come up with a better name for her, but Milly was completely out of the question. So instead he chose the C.C. approach, and abbreviated Command Kansen “I can go back to calling you Shikikan if you want”.  
  
“Oh no, C.K.'s just fine,” Shikikan said with a smile “It will take a while for the others to get used to it, but, as you said, it's better than being call commander,” she said, “Talking about names, I remember you calling me Milly when we first met. What was that about?”.  
  
Damn it, he was hoping that no one would bring that up. He hadn't come up with a proper story for that yet. But, it wouldn't be too difficult to come up with a story, as long as he told the truth that is. With a little lie sprinkled on top.  
  
“Sorry about that. I thought you were someone else at the time” Lelouch replied, “It took me a moment to realise I was wrong”.  
  
C.K. looked at him with an understanding look “I see. So, who was this Milly. An old girlfriend, perhaps?”.  
  
Lelouch almost chocked “What! N-no, she wasn't my girlfriend” he sputtered “She was the student council president at the academy I went to in Japan. I never dated her. I would have to be out of my mind to do that”.  
  
“Oh, sorry about that. Got a bit ahead of myself there. So you knew her well then”.  
  
“Yep. I was part of the student council. I had a lot of fun with them, even if the president got me into a few rather embarrassing situations. Which, for the sake of my dignity, I will not go into. What about you. Are you part of the Azur Academy student council?”.  
  
“Sadly no. And even if I was, it wouldn't matter much. Since the war with the crimson Axis stated, the academy has suspended all lessons. And I don't see them starting back up any time soon, seeing that we're now using it as a backup command centre”.  
  
“Well, nothing we can do about that. It's all due to uncontrollable circumstances. Truth be told I never did graduate from high school. The Sirens destroyed it during the same attack that took my sister. Everyone I knew was killed in that attack. And I was too full of rage against my father sending us out there to bother enrolling into another academy”.  
  
“Just don't let Langley or Ranger hear that. Otherwise, they will make finish school whilst you're still in command of the AL. That's if you become the commander. But I doubt that the Eagle Union can pull a more successful commander out of their ass so quickly”.  
  
“Don't be too sure about that” a new voice interjected.  
  
The two quickly turned towards the door and saw the Eagle Union aircraft carrier Langley, standing in the open doorway.  
  
She was a short girl, about the same height as the older looking destroyers like Amazon. Yet despite her short height, she emanated the same authority as the teachers from Ashford academy.  
  
“The Eagle Union has hundreds of navy commanders. I wouldn't be surprised if they selected one of them to be their candidate” Langley said as she walked into the room, stopping in front of Lelouch's desk “And, whilst I'm sorry that you've lost so many friends and family members to the Siren's. I do expect you to finish your academic training once the Azur Academy reopens”.  
  
“Sure, I'll do that” Lelouch said calmly. He might as agree to it, he didn't have a reason not to after all.  
  
“Good,” Langley said with a smile “Now whilst the academy is closed, there are a few classes that are still running. Like physical education,” she said. Lelouch dropped the pen he was holding. He knew exactly where this was going “At Queen Elizabeth's request, you have been placed onto Ranger's physical education course. Due to your, and I'm directly quoting her here, 'your lack of stamina'”.  
  
Lelouch sighed, there was no getting out of this, was there. He hadn't impressed anyone with his lack of physical fitness, and now he was paying for it. He couldn't even use Geass to get out of this, as he no longer had he.  
  
Yesterday he tested to see if he still had it. It was a simple test, a simple order given to one of the marines. He didn't want to test it on a Kansen, as he had no idea if it would even work on them. They are ships after all.  
  
The order was a discreet one. One that wouldn't arise suspicion even if it didn't work. And whilst the marine did obey the order that he was given, Lelouch didn't feel his Geass activate. A quick check-in a mirror confirmed it. The Geass symbol that always appeared in his eye when he used his power didn't appear.  
  
Honestly, he should have checked to see that he still had it earlier, but with all the things that have been happening he either forgot or had far too much to do.  
  
“Fine, I'll attend the class” Lelouch sighed, reluctantly agreeing to attend the class.  
  
“Good,” Langley said before she turned to C.K. “Shikikan, I do expect you to finish the homework that I set you before the academy closed”.  
  
C.K. looked at the carrier with a surprised look “Ur. Don't we have more important matters to attend to at the moment. Like, fixing the entire base after a massive Siren attack” she said, “Also it's C.K. now. Lelouch recommended I use it, as it's better than being called commander. Which isn't what I am”.  
  
Langley looked at her for a moment before turning to face Lelouch “Not the best name you could have come up with for her, but it will work for now” she said, “Always thought calling the ship Shikikan would cause some problems”.  
  
“It was the previous commander, Grant, who named me,” C.K. said “He wasn't the best with coming up with names for ships. I'm surprised they allowed him to name me. And yes, I will finish that work. Just as soon as I have the time to do it. I'm kind of busy at the moment, what with all this leftover paperwork that needs sorting and doing” she said before groaning loudly “So boring”.  
  
That was interesting. Milly wasn't the kind of girl who found work boring. In fact, she like working. Why do you think she became a reporter after graduating. C.K. was different from her personality-wise. There were a few similarities between them, but there were more differences.  
  
It was the same with Anson. Despite looking like Cornelia, and acting somewhat like her, there were differences with her as well. Out of all the royal navy ships involved in the battle, she took the most damage. Got a bit too close to the enemy as, according to her sisters, she likes to get up close and personal with the enemy, resulting in her taking more damage. As a battleship, she can handle the damage, but it does mean that she will be spending a lot more time out for repairs.  
  
Speaking of battleships, he had agreed to have lunch with the battleship row girls. Arizona, California, Maryland, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia. All of them had lost their ships during the attack, and whilst their ships are being repaired, it will be at least a month before they can use their ships again.  
  
“This is very important work we have to do here,” Lelouch said calmly “We have over a month's worth of paperwork here too organised to catch up on. The sooner we finish this, the sooner we get to work on the more recent things,” he said before he stood up “Now if you can excuse me, I have a lunch date with the battleship row girls. You wouldn't mind helping C.K. organise the paperwork whilst I'm gone, Langley”.  
  
“Of course not, I'll be happy to help” Langley replied as she walked over to the desk.  
  
“Good,” Lelouch said before he walked over towards the door “I should be back in half an hour or so,” he said as he opened the door and left the room.  
  
What happened next was a bit of a blur. He accidentally bumped into someone, causing him to lose his balance. He tried to grab hold of something to regain his balance, but whatever it was he grabbed onto wasn't exactly stable, and came down with him. The next thing he knew, he was sandwiched between two people. His head squished comfortably between two pairs of large breasts.  
  
“Commander!” C.K. gasped as he heard her rush over to him “What happened?”.  
  
“I think we had a bit of a collision” the polite voice of Illustrious replied.  
  
Ah, so he had bumped into Illustrious. That would explain the 'soft-landing'. But who else had he bumped into?  
  
“Don't worry Formidable. We'll help you up” Langley said as Lelouch felt the person laying on his back get helped up.  
  
Ah, Formidable, on of Illustrious' sisters. He had yet to meet her yet, so this was quite the awkward first meeting for them.  
  
Once Formidable had been helped up, Lelouch was finally able to get up himself. He lifted his head out from between the armoured carriers bosom “Sorry about that” he said as he stood up. He then held out his hand.  
  
Illustrious smiled as she took his hand “No need to apologise commander” she said as Lelouch helped her up “It was us who were at fault. We weren't paying attention to where we were going” she said, “Oh yes. This is my sister Formidable”.  
  
Lelouch turned and saw a woman wearing a black Gothic Lolita-styled dress with a low neckline, straining out her dress. She quickly noticed that he was looking at her, and quickly straightened herself out.  
  
“Good day, Commander,” Formidable said, “I am Formidable, third ship of the Illustrious class. Pleased to make your acquaintance. And ur, sorry for colliding with you, sir”.  
  
“That's ok, it was an honest mistake,” Lelouch said with a smile “It's not the first time I've accidentally bumped into someone”.  
  
“Of course, sir” Formidable said with a polite bow “We were just heading over to the cafeteria for lunch. I was wondering if you would like to join us today”.  
  
“I'm afraid I agreed to have lunch with the battleship row girls,” Lelouch said, “But I'm free tomorrow if you like”.  
  
“That would be wonderful,” Illustrious said with a kind smile “We'll see you tomorrow then. Come along sister,” she said before the two sisters walked off down the corridor.  
  
“Wow. Two lunch dates in two days” C.K. said sounding surprised “I've never seen someone have that many in such a small time frame”.  
  
Lelouch chucked “Oh, believe me, I've had more,” he said, remembering the time he had over one-hundred dates because of Sayoko. That was not something he wanted to go through again “I was quite popular at high-school” he said before he turned around “Anyway, I'll be seeing you girls later” he said as he walked off towards the cafeteria.


	18. Chapter 18

“Must you be leaving today?” Lelouch asked.  
  
“I'm afraid we must” Akagi replied “Since the attack on Azur Main. The Sakura Empire has been recalling all of its fleets to defend the home islands. And sadly, that includes us,” she said, looking behind her as the Sakura Empire fleet started to depart.  
  
The order to return home came in yesterday, five days after the attack on Azur main. The base was still busy recovering from the attack, but most, if not all of the debris had been removed. Annoyingly Lelouch had been quite busy during the week, looking through the backlog of paperwork, organizing the base recovery, and general base management. Stuff the commander of the Azur Lane was required to do. He had almost zero free time, so she wasn't able to spend time with him. Plus she couldn't find an intact chess set on site that they could use, so that was annoying.  
  
There was some good news. High-command had delayed sending the war declaration by a few more weeks. The attack had made her countries leaders realize that they needed to improve the country's coastal defenses, so had agreed to delay things until the current upgrades to the defenses have been complete. Which shouldn't take more than a few weeks. After that, the war begins.  
  
“It's a shame you have to go. The support you've been giving us has been most helpful” Lelouch said, “We probably wouldn't have the docks fully functional again without your help”.  
  
“Your welcome, commander,” Akagi said with a smile. It was a shame she couldn't bring him back to Japan with her. His tactical and command abilities would be very beneficial in the upcoming war against the Eagle union. Sadly his loyalty was to the Royal navy, and that royal half-pint Queen Elizabeth.  
  
Still, if she could convince high-command to launch a mission to kidnap him. She could work on 'convincing' him to switch sides. The Royal Navy may have busty maids, but the Sakura Empire has something far better. Soft, floofy, tails. As well as a large flotilla of destroyers to head-pat. Plus there were several other 'tools' at her disposal that could convince him to change sides.  
  
“Well. I hope you have a safe voyage home” Lelouch said with a smile.  
  
“Of course sir. I hope so too” Akagi said “Goodbye, commander,” she said before she turned and jumped onto the water, and rejoined the Sakura Empire fleet. Returning her rigging to its ship form when it was safe to do so.  
  
She waited until they were a good distance away from the island before she opened up a comm channel with Kaga “Kaga, what do you think of the Royal Navy commander?” she asked.  
  
“Lelouch. He's a good pick for the commander of the Azur lane” Kaga replied, “It's a shame we will have to fight him. We could really do with a commander who actuary cares about us, and doesn't see us as just weapons”.  
  
“Yes, it is a shame. Just makes you wonder, what exactly are they teaching at the academy's to make our commanders so, annoying” Akagi wondered. It was no secret that the majority of commanders did not like the Kansen they commanded. A lot of people blamed it on the instructors passing their hatred onto the new recruits.  
  
It annoyed her that people still harbored hatred towards them. It's not like they had any choice in the matter. Had mankind continued to use normal ships against the Sirens, then the world's oceans would be completely occupied. Kansen are the only effective weapons against the Sirens.  
  
“Anyway, did you managed to gather some information on him?” Akagi asked.  
  
“Yes I did” Kaga replied “I found out quite a lot. The Royal Navy found him on an island a month ago. A few days before commander Grant Kline's death. He commanded the fleet in a skirmish against the Siren tester, then commander the fleet that crippled Bismarck”.  
  
“He's the one who took out Bismarck,” Akagi said sounding surprised. A sly smile formed on her face “The Ironblood would very much like to know that little piece of information. Where was he taught?”.  
  
“Unknown” Kaga replied “He wasn't trained at any of the Royal Navy academies. He was a merchant seaman when they found him. Hood had to convince him to join the Royal Navy as a commander. The battle against Bismarck was a test of his ability's”.  
  
Akagi giggled “Oh, she will not like that. You think we should inform the Ironblood about him?” she asked.  
  
“Maybe. But it will have to be an edited version. We don't want them to flip out, or for the Azur Lane to think it's us who sent them the information. Our alliance with the Ironblood is still a secret. It would be disastrous if they found out about it now”.  
  
“Of course. We'll make sure it's an encrypted channel and doesn't contain anything that could link it back to us. Got anything else about him?”.  
  
“According to the Royal navy records, his father sent him and his sister to Japan when he was ten, right after his mother was killed during a siren attack”.  
  
“His father did that to him,” Akagi said sounding surprised “Good god, what kind of bastard was he”.  
“The kind that got killed during a subsequent attack” Kaga replied, “Karma as it were. His sister was also killed by Sirens”.  
  
Akagi lowered her head “He lost his entire family to them. Poor kid. It must have been hard for him, losing them all. We should try to keep him alive. He may soon be the enemy, but the world needs someone of his skill leading the fight against the sirens”.  
  
“Of course. High command would have to be idiots to weaken Earth's first line of defense against the Sirens. Especially now considering what happened to Azur Main”.  
  
“Indeed,” Akagi said as she looked back, the island of Oahu just vanishing over the horizon. She had a feeling in her gut that things were going to get a lot harder from here on out.

  


Azur main academy. Medical ward.  
  
When Nin agreed to infiltrate Azur Main by disguising herself as a Gato class submarine, Ayumodoki, she thought that it would be a simple mission. Get in, observe this Lelouch guy, and not draw attention to herself. Easy right.  
  
“Good morning sister!” the rather annoying voice of Albacore said besides her, waking her up.  
  
Wrong, it was not going to be easy.  
  
After someone almost dropped a bomb on her, she was whisked away to the academy medical ward. Luckily her cover had yet to be blown. They did a very good job of making her look like a Kansen after all. Still, that bomb could easily have killed her and rendered the entire operation pointless. She didn't know the identity of the bastard who almost dropped a bomb on her, her money was on that new Defender model they kept far back during the battle. They were still testing that one out, so they were bound to make 'mistakes'.  
  
At least she was able to plant the documents in the commander's office.  
  
She was still recovering from her injuries, which wasn't that much of a problem. The problem was that her 'sisters' wouldn't leave her alone. She couldn't get a single moment where she didn't have one of them nearby keeping an eye on her. Apparently, they were worried about her and wanted to make sure that she was ok. Great, now she had seventy-seven concerned sisters to deal with. Great, just great.  
  
Could have been worse, she could have been disguised as a Fletcher-class.  
  
She groaned as she turned her head sideways to face Albacore, who had a large smile on her face “What do you want, Albacore?” she asked, sounding slightly annoyed.  
  
“I've Just been having a word with Vestal, and she says that you are well enough to be able to leave the medical ward,” Albacore said happily.  
  
“Ur, ok,” Nin said sounding confused.  
  
“Which means that you're well enough for me to give you a tour around the base,” Albacore said happily.  
  
“Oh no,” Nin said, realizing that she would have to spend time with her 'sisters'. Which was very bad as she had already spent far too long in here already, and now she'll be wasting more time away from her mission. At this rate, she'll never gather anything about Lelouch.  
  
Why did Observer even want to observe this guy anyway? He's just another normal, expendable human. Why bother sending a lurker to keep an eye on him?  
  
“Oh yes,” Albacore said before she grabbed Nin and pulled her out of bed “We are going to have so much fun today”.  
  
“Wait a second. Are you sure it's ok for me to leave?” Nin asked as she was pulled towards the door “Shouldn't we speak to Vestal first. Or get some kind of confirmation from the command”.  
  
“I don't think the commander really needs to sign off on someone who's fit to return to active duty,” Albacore said as she opened the door, and instantly froze, as a rather annoyed looking Vestal was standing on the other side of the door. A rather sorry-looking Bluegill standing beside her.  
  
“Albacore,” the repair ship said, not looking at all pleased “I should have known that you were the one behind this”.  
  
“I can explain” Albacore shrieked, freezing to the spot.  
  
“You wanted to get your sister Ayumodoki out of the medical ward early,” Vestal said “Whilst I don't mind you spending time with her. I do mind when I get called off to a fake medical emergency. There are hundreds of patients here that need my care. What would have happened if one of them went critical whilst I was gone? I would not have been here to save them. Your plan could have inadvertently killed someone”.  
  
“I'm sorry” Albacore cried, tears falling from her eyes “I just, wanted to play with Ayumodoki”.  
  
Seriously, she had one of her sisters fake a medical emergency just so she could get her out of here and play with her. What was she thinking? A siren wouldn't do something so stupid for another siren. Although that's because Siren's don't need medical care. If the body is damaged they can just transfer into a new one, which was something she couldn't do as she was supposed to be a Kansen, not a Siren.  
  
“You can play with her once she's well enough to leave,” Vestal said “She may be able to walk, but that doesn't mean that she alright to leave. Her body is still recovering from the blast and needs rest,” she said before she walked over to Nin and ushered her back to bed “You will be allowed to visit her. But for now, she stays here”.  
  
Nin sighed a silent sigh of relief. She really didn't want anything to do with the Gato's, so anything to get her away from them was nice. Sadly she still won't be able to leave here yet, so she can't spy on Lelouch yet. But he won't be going anywhere anytime soon, so she could afford to wait a bit.  
  
Nin got back into bed “How are you feeling?” the repair she asked her as she got comfortable.  
  
“Slightly better than yesterday” Nin replied, “My chest still hurts by the way”.  
  
“I see. Well hopefully it'll get better by tomorrow” Vestal said, “I'm surprised by how quickly your recovering. At this rate you should be well enough to leave in a day or so”.  
  
“That soon?” Nin said sounding surprised. She knew that Kansen recovered from wounds quicker than normal humans, but to recover from a blast like that so quickly, even with re-gen, was quick even for a Kansen. It might have something to do with her siren nature.  
  
“Yes. I had thought that you would be here for at least another week. But our body has recovered much quicker than expected” Vestal remarked, “Maybe your wounds weren't as severe as previously thought”.  
  
“Wait. You mean she'll be able to leave sometime tomorrow” Albacore said, wiping the tears away from her eyes.  
  
“She should be able to,” Vestal said “Which makes your plan to get her out even more pointless. Next time check to see how well she's doing before you plan to get her out,” she said sounding annoyed.  
  
“I know,” Albacore said, “I'm sorry”.  
  
“And you should be,” Vestal said, turning to face the submarine “I've got far better things to be doing than going to fake emergency. I hope this won't happen again,” she said, causing the three submarines, Nin included, to freeze up. She may be a repair ship, but dear god could she scary at times “Now if you could excuse me, I have several other patients that do require my help” she said before she walked off.  
  
Albacore and Bluegill nervously walked towards her “Sorry about that” Bluegill said, “We just really wanted to play with you. That's all”.  
  
Nin sighed. She knew they meant well. But their plan wasn't well thought out and could have resulted in loss of life. Why would they even try it in the first place? It's not like it would have done anyone any good.  
  
“Your not mad at us, aren't you?” Albacore asked.  
  
“No, I'm not mad at you” Nin replied, “I'm just slightly disappointed in you. It was irresponsible of you to try and get me out of here. What if I wasn't in a condition to move? What if a real emergency happened whilst Vestal was gone?”.  
  
“We're sorry sis,” Albacore said, “We just wanted to get to know you a bit more. We weren't told that they were making another vessel of the Gato class, so we want to know more about you”.  
  
“You can just ask about me whilst I'm still in the medical ward. I'm not going anywhere” Nin said, although she really didn't want to answer any more of their questions. She had been bombarded by enough of them already.  
  
“Yeah, but we wanted to see how good you are with firing torpedoes,” Bluegill said “There are something's we want to know about you that can't just be told. They have to be seen as well. Also we want to see how good you are at hide and seek”.  
  
“Hide and seek?” Nin said sounding confused “What's that?” she asked.  
  
The two submarines looked at her with almost shocked looks “You don't know what hide and seek is!” Albacore said sounding very shocked “That settles it. Once you are well enough to leave, we will teach you how to play the glorious game that is, hide and seek”.  
  
“Ur,” Nin said nervously “Is that really necessary?”.  
  
“Of course it is” Bluegill replied with an enthusiastic smile “Submarines are masters of hiding. It would be an insult to submarines everywhere if you didn't know how to play hide and seek. Just you wait, we'll turn you into a hide and seek pro in no time”.  
  
“Sisters!” Cavalla shouted as she rushed into the medical room “We're late for the commission!”.  
  
“Oh crap. I almost forgot we were due to go out on a commission today” Albacore said as she and Bluegill panicked “Ur. Don't worry Ayumodoki, we'll be back in a few hours. Just got a commission to do” she said before the three submarines rushed out of the room.  
  
Nin watched them leave. Why were they being so friendly towards her? Shouldn't they be at least somewhat suspicious of her? She did just pop up out of the blue after all. Why were they just accepting her as a new sister already? Were they really that trusting of people?  
  
She sighed. What the hell had she gotten herself into.


	19. Chapter 19

Japan. Tokyo navy base.  
  
Akagi sighed as she and Kaga walked out of the meeting room “Well. That could have gone better” she said sounding slightly annoyed, as they walked down the corridor.  
  
It had been a few hours since they arrived back home, and they had just finished giving their report to the navy high command. There were more than a few of them who were pissed off that the attack on Azur main wasn't carried out. Akagi tried to explain to them that the fleet would have been destroyed by the Royal Navy's counter-attack. But some of them tried to come up with strategies to try and fight off the Royals. None of which would have worked, even if the Sirens didn't launch their attack as well.  
  
“At least some of them were understanding about the situation,” Kaga said “I have never been more glad that this operation didn't have a commander commanding it. If we had one of those morons in command, then we would probably be at the bottom of the ocean”.  
  
“Agreed,” Akagi said “Where the hell did half of them get that dumb idea that you could somehow summon a massive fox?”.  
  
“They've probably been watching too much anime” Kaga replied “I have no idea where these rumors that I can 'summon a giant fox' came from”.  
  
“Maybe they were referring to Yamato”.  
  
“Like I could summon Yamato out of nowhere. And even if I could, she would be very pissed off about it. Speaking of Yamato, wasn't that order she gave us a bit, odd”.  
  
“Yes, it was,” Akagi said. The order in question was to find and capture someone called 'The Black King'. She had no idea who she should be looking out for, or what would mark him out as the black king. All she knew was that Yamato wanted him alive, and she wasn't going to disobey her “Who do you think this black king guy is?”.  
  
“I have no idea” Kaga replied “She didn't give us much to work on. Just cryptic clues about who he is and where he came from. Seriously, 'leaves his royal shores'. Do you have any idea how many kingdoms there are with access to the sea?”.  
  
“Too many to make this an easy task. If we just had something to help pin down his home country, then our task will be much easier. Why is it that our orders are always somewhat cryptic? I know I'm being a bit of a hypocrite right now as I have giving cryptic orders before. But at least mine was easy to understand”.  
  
“Well, we can only hope that she provides us with more information on who he is. In the meantime, we're stuck here until the coastal defenses are finished”.  
  
“Well, at least we have some free time on our hands. We should pay Amagi a visit first thou”.  
  
“Of course. It would be, disrespectful if we didn't”.  
  
The two foxes proceeded out of the command building and towards the dorms. They passed by several Kansen and navy personal as they walked. Most of them said hi, but the majority of the human personnel didn't say anything and just ignored them. Granted most of them were marching, so couldn't really be allowed to talk to them. But the others, the one's not marching, just flat out ignored them. Some of them acted like they weren't even there.  
  
“What on earth do they teach them at the academy's, how to be rude to Kansen?” Akagi asked.  
  
“Their human, Akagi. What do you expect” Kaga said calmly “Some of them still view us as ships, and treat us as such. Forgetting that we are human as well”.  
  
“I know. It's just shocking that there are so many people who believe that in the military” Akagi said, “Are the teaches passing this hatred of us onto their students? I've heard that most of the academy teachers are from the old day, back when Kansen weren't a thing”.  
  
“Well, if they're passing their hatred onto the students, then there's nothing we can do about it. We have no authority to change how they teach the next generation of navy commanders”.  
  
“Well. At least our commanders are competent and don't let their hatred get in the way of their job”.  
  
Kaga nodded before the two walked in silence towards the dorms. The weather was peaceful today, and there were very few clouds in the sky.  
  
They soon arrived at their shared dorm and walked inside “We're back!” she said loudly as she walked in. A second later a clenched fist came down right onto her head. Dazzling her and forcing her down onto her knees.  
  
“What the!” Kaga gasped before she too got bonked on the head too.  
  
“Could you two please be quiet?” Amagi asked quietly as she stood before them, looking rather unwell and wearing ear protection over both her human and fox ears “I *cough* *cough* just had my injection”.  
  
“Sorry, nee-san,” Akagi said.  
  
Amagi wasn't exactly in the best condition right now. But it could have been a lot worse, as her cube was defective and was killing her. That was until she went through a cube transplant, where they replaced her defective cube with an undamaged and unused one. It worked, her cube wasn't killing her now, but it was taking her a while to recover from the transplant. Plus her new cube was still melding with her body, so she required weekly injections of a modified version of Regen, a drug that speeds up a Kansen's natural regeneration, to help meld the new cube to her. This sadly left her quite weak and vulnerable, as well as heightened her hearing to painful levels. Even a lowly whisper is painful to her, hence the ear protection.  
  
“We didn't know that your injection was today,” Kaga said apologetically.  
  
“It's Monday. I *cough* always *cough* have my *cough* *cough*” Amagi coughed before she fell. Akagi moved quickly and grabbed her before she could hit the floor.  
  
“Amagi. Are you alright?” Akagi asked, worried about her sister.  
  
“No” Amagi replied weakly “I'm not feeling too good right now”.  
  
“Ok, let's get you back to bed,” Akagi said as she helped her sister towards the bedroom and into one of the beds. Keeping her voice low as to not cause her any discomfort.  
  
“Thank you, Akagi,” Amagi said weakly as the carrier tucked her into bed.  
  
Kaga showed up beside her with a warm cup of tea “Here, have this” she said as she passed it to Amagi.  
  
“Thank you, Kaga,” Amagi said with a smile as she took the cup and took a sip from it “So, how did the mission to Azur Main go?” she asked.  
  
“Ur, things didn't exactly go to plan” Akagi replied, “For starters a Royal Navy fleet showed up out of nowhere, meaning that we had to abort the attack. Then the Sirens showed up and attacked Azur Main for some unknown reason” she explained “The Royals also have a candidate for the position of commander of the Azur Lane, Lelouch Lamperouge. He's quite good, all things considered. He took command of Azur Main's defenses when the command staff was killed in the attack. He managed to do with without losing a single Kansen”.  
  
“He sounds like *cough*, quite the good commander,” Amagi said, “I would like to meet him”.  
  
“I'm afraid that won't be possible,” Kaga said quietly “He's not only busy commanding the Azur Lane, but we're not allowed to go back there. Once the coastal defenses are completed, we will be declaring war against the Eagle Union”.  
  
Amagi sighed “Must we *cough* *cough*, declare war against our *cough*, allies?” she asked, “The Sirens are still a threat *cough*”.  
  
“I'm afraid we have no choice in the matter” Akagi replied, “If our leaders want this war, then we can do nothing but follow”.  
  
“Shame. I always thought they were smart” Amagi said, “Why declare a war when we're *cough*, already losing another. Humanity is in no state to be fighting amongst themselves”.  
  
“Their human” Kaga said, “They will always find a peaty reason to fight each other. Even when they're already fighting for their lives, humans will always find a reason to kill each other”.  
  
“You should get some rest, Amagi,” Akagi said, “We can talk later”.  
  
“Of course,” Amagi said before she closed her eyes.  
  
Akagi and Kaga waited a bit, just to make sure Amagi was ok before they quietly stood up and left the room.  
  
“How long do you think before she's fully recovered from the transplant?” Kaga asked quietly.  
  
“With any luck, she should be better within one to two months” Akagi replied, “But that means she'll be having at least four more injections at best, eight at worst. We just have to hope that does better than expected”.  
  
“Indeed. We can only hope” Kaga said, “At least she doing better than she was when she had her old cube. We could barely get her out of the hospital at times”.  
  
“I know. I'm just glad that this treatment is making her feel better. She would be dead without it. Just imagine the good that can be done if Amagi's treatment is successful. Kansen who have defective cubes can have them replaced with new, healthy ones”.  
  
“Yeah. It's just a shame that our superiors are refusing to share the knowledge of wisdom cube transplants. Not that keeping it a secret is bad. Amagi is the only known Kansen who has a defective cube after all. How did her cube become defective any way? I know she took heavy damage during the Great Kanto Earthquake, which interrupted her manifestation. It shouldn't have caused problems to her cube. It was even checked beforehand and was cleared. They wouldn't have deliberately used a defective cube to manifest a Kansen. Would they?”.  
  
“I don't know. What I do know was that her cube was in good condition before it has added to Amagi's ship's keel. If something happened to it to cause it to become defective, it must have happened sometime between it being cleared and being built into the ship. Maybe there was an accident and someone didn't tell anyone about it”.  
  
“If someone did that, I'll kill them. But, we don't have proof of something like that happening. Anyway, let us leave that painful discussion behind, and talk about something a bit better, like how we're going to capture Lelouch”.  
  
Kaga sighed “Seriously, you want to capture him alive. High command will probably want him dead considering how good of a commander he is”.  
  
“Of course they will,” Akagi said with a sly smile “That is, unless, we convince them that he is this black king Yamato is interested in. And if that doesn't work, we can just say that he may know something about who the black king is”.  
  
“Are you sure about this? What if Yamato says that he isn't the one”.  
  
“Oh, I don't think that will be a problem. Musashi still owes me a few favors after all. I might be able to get them to play along”.  
  
“This is a very dangerous game your playing here. What if high-command finds out that you've been lying to them?”.  
  
“Not much. Yamato hasn't given us much to work with at the moment, so we can just blame it on lack of information. By then he'll be hidden away in a place they will never find him. That is until we convince him to switch sides. And then they will have no choice but to keep him alive, as having someone of his skill in command of our fleets will make us invincible”.  
  
“If you say so. But organizing a force to capture him will be difficult. You know how good he is. I highly doubt that he won't be easy to capture. He has both the resources of the Azur Land and the Royal Maids to protect him. Plus there's his superior command ability. Face it, sister, convincing high-command that he is the black king will be the easy part”.  
  
“Well, we can cross that bridge when we come to it. All we need to do is wait for the perfect moment when he is least defended and vulnerable”.  
  
“If you say so,” Kaga said, “Although, what do we do if it turns out that he is the black king Yamato was talking about?”.  
  
“I highly doubt it,” Akagi said, “We would have to be super lucky for that to be the case. And knowing us, we won't be. But if, and this is a big if, he somehow manages to be this black king, I will drink coffee for a week”.  
  
“Are you sure you want to be saying that, Akagi. If Amagi finds out, and he does turn out to be this black king. She will make sure that you go through with it”.  
  
“I know. That's why I won't tell her about-” Akagi said before a tennis ball hit her in the side of the head, knocking her sideways.  
  
“I think she knows about it,” Kaga remarked.  
  
“Oh really,” Akagi said, dazed slightly “What gave it away?”.  
  
“The tennis ball with the words 'I know' written on the side of it” Kaga replied.  
  
Akagi groaned as she slumped sideways, realizing the hole she had just gotten herself into. It would be impossible to get out of it now that her sister Amagi knows about it. She could only hope that Lelouch didn't turn out to be this black king. Which probably won't be the case. The universe wouldn't just give them the identity of the black king on a silver platter like that so easily. Would it?


	20. Chapter 20

Lelouch staged into his chair in the commander's office, breathing heavily. Ranger was not showing him any mercy towards him during her physical education classes, and today was no exception. She personally went to his room and woke him up early, and dragged him out of bed. She did this, every single day.  
  
The lessons themselves were pure torture. On the first day, he was required to run a full lap around the academy's running track, AKA, 400 meters. He barely managed half of that. The rest of the lessons were spent trying to improve his physical fitness, which was very, very slow going. Thank god Langley managed to convince her to go a bit easy on him.  
  
“You ok master?” Hermione asked him.  
  
“I'm fine” Lelouch panted “It's just, I am not very good at physical activity”.  
  
“Yes, I have noticed that,” Hermione said, “You really need to exercise a lot more. Oh yes, the Eagle Union candidates for the position of Commander have arrived”.  
  
“Candidates?” Lelouch said sounding surprised “They sent more than one”.  
  
“Well, not exactly sir” Hermione replied “There's two of them, Owen Melendez and Nathan Murray. Owen is the Eagle Union candidate for the command of the AL, and Nathan is the replacement base commander. This is an Eagle Union base after all, so they do need one of their own commanders on-site to command their own fleets”.  
  
“Ah, ok then. Where are they now?” Lelouch asked.  
  
“In the Eagle Union dorm” Hermione replied, “I can get them for you if you want?”.  
  
“Of course. I'll like to meet them”.  
  
“I'll get them right away sir”.  
  
Hermione turned and walked out of the room. She will probably be gone for a few minutes, so that gave him enough time to recover from the excessive workout session Ranger had put him through. Hermione had been kind enough to leave him a glass of water for him, which he downed quickly.  
  
Ten minutes later, Hermione returned, with two navy officers following behind her.  
  
Both officers looked to be in their late twenties or early thirty's, and they both had captain rank on their uniforms.  
  
“Commander. May I present to you, captains Owen Melendez, and Nathan Murray” Hermione said, gesturing to the respective captain.  
  
Lelouch had a quick glance over them. Owen was a tall man with brown hair, brown eyes, and a rather stern look to him. In contrast, Nathan was shorter and slightly younger-looking. He had blond hair, green eyes, and a more round face.  
  
“Aren't you forgetting something, Hermewan?” Owen said sounding rather annoyed “You forgot my nickname, the Falcon of the West,” he said proudly.  
  
Lelouch already hated this guy. He reminded him of the Britannian nobility. Men and women who cared for nothing but the wealth and power their meaningless titles offered them, with the same rudeness it entails.  
  
“It's Hermione,” the light cruiser said sound very annoyed, looking at him with an annoyed look “Not whatever that insult to the English language was. And what kind of nickname is 'the Falcon of the West'? Who even calls you that?”.  
  
“Only himself,” Nathan remarked, getting a rather angry look from Owen “What, it's true. No one has ever called you that. And why do you have to be rude to every single Kansen you talk to? Like, you deliberately got Hermione's name wrong several times, you insulted West Virginia, who happens to be named after your home state. And, you called Monarch a useless Royal Bastard”.  
  
Now that was a step too far “Hermione, is this true?” he asked the light cruiser.  
  
“I wasn't there when the incident happened sir, but I did see Monarch walking away, crying” Hermione replied.  
  
Lelouch slowly turned towards Owen “Your the best the Eagle Union could send for the position of commander of the Azur Lane. Mankind's last line of defense against the Sirens. Out of the hundreds of commander's they have to choose from, they chose you, a man who sees the Kansen, our only effective weapon against the Sirens, as nothing but failures” he said with a calm fury “I don't care that you are from the Eagle Union, but as you are on this base, you will not insult a single Kansen under my command”.  
  
“Now hold on a second. You listen here you little Royal brat-” Owen shouted, only to flinch when Lelouch slammed his fist onto the table.  
  
“No, you listen to me,” Lelouch said coldly “Until the ALOC says otherwise, I am the commander of this navy base, not you. Now, in two days' time, I will have been the temporal commander of this base for three weeks. When that happens, I will step down and let you be the temporal commander of the base for three weeks. This is so the ALOC can judge to see if you will be a good commander of the AL” he explained “Until then, you will obey my orders. Do you understand me, captain?”.  
  
Owen gritted his teeth “Yes sir” he said, “Nathan made an even worse comment”.  
  
“You leave me the fuck out of this” Nathan said sounding annoyed “All I said was that she had some nice Royal thighs and that I had a desire to have my head crushed by them. Then you went off and called her useless” he explained, “I can tell you've never been successful in talking to a woman before”.  
  
“Like your any better” Owen scoffed.  
  
“At least I don't insult them,” Nathan said.  
  
“Well I can see you two getting along perfectly” Lelouch murmured before shaking his head “Alright you two, calm down. We're all on the same side here. Fighting amongst ourselves is not going to help us fight the Sirens”.  
  
“And yet you Royals are at war with the Ironblood” Owen scoffed.  
  
“It not like we have a choice in the matter” Hermione retorted “It was either we joined the war, or we left our allies to fall under the iron boot of the Ironblood. Knowing that sooner or later, they will come after us”.  
  
“She does have a point” Nathan added “I mean, we would have done the same if we were in their place. If our allies get attack we're going to have to help them, otherwise we will look quite bad to our other allies”.  
  
Owen grunted and he looked away. He had the look of someone who knew that he had been beaten, but didn't want to admit it. He had seen that look countless times on the many nobles he had beaten over the years. He felt a smug satisfaction seeing that type of look again, and he didn't even beat the guy at chess.  
  
“One question” Owen said “During the period that I'm the 'temporal commander', what will you be doing?” he asked, a devious smile on his face.  
  
“I'll be heading back to the Royal Islands” Lelouch replied, and the smile instantly disappeared “There are a few operations going on down there that the Admiralty has requested my help with. But, I should warn you, anything you do as the temporal commander will have to go through the ALOC, and you will be limited in what you can do. So don't expect to have full control over the Azur Lane when I leave”.  
  
“Of course, sir,” Owen said sounding slightly annoyed. He was probably annoyed that he wouldn't be sticking around once he's in command.  
  
“Now then, I have a lot of work to deal with right now,” Lelouch said “So you two are dismissed for now”.  
  
“Yes sir,” the two men said as they snapped to attention and saluted. Although Owen's look to be a bit more reluctant. They then turned and left the room.  
  
Hermione sighed after the door closed “How can the Eagles appoint such a disgusting man as their candidate to the Azur Lane?” she wondered “He's just as rude as Grant was”.  
  
“Agreed,” Lelouch said “Your sure he's not related to him?” he asked.  
  
The light cruiser shook her head “Thankfully not. To my knowledge that, 'bastard', didn't have any children”.  
  
“Well that's good to know,” Lelouch said “Hermione, can you please get King George V, Duke of York, and Anson to check up on Monarch for me. I'm worried that what Owen said to her is affecting her badly”.  
  
“Of course sir,” Hermione said with a bow “I will inform them right away,” she said before she turned and left the room.  
  
Lelouch looked back down at the paperwork that he still has to do. A lot of this needed signing and there were several important decisions here that he did not want Owen to make. But he had time, two days is more than enough to finish getting all of his little plans in motion. And once Owen becomes the temporal commander, there would be nothing he can do to stop them. He might not even know about any of them until it's too late to stop them. And if he does find out about them, he can easily use the ALOC's own bureaucracy against him.  
  
Oh yes, things were starting to fall into place.

  


Two days later. Marine Corps Air Station Hawaii  
  
“Is everything ready?” Lelouch asked.  
  
“Yes, master” Belfast replied as Hermione and Sheffield walked past, punishing luggage trolleys onto a military-owned transport aircraft, a Boeing C-40D Clipper, a modified version of the standard C-40 that can transport Kansen whilst their riggings are active. All three of them had their riggings active “Everyone's luggage is being loaded as we speak, and the emergency fuel tanks have already been loaded up”.  
  
“Good. Wouldn't want you girls to have to deactivate your rigging mid-flight” Lelouch said with a smile.  
  
Kansen, when using their rigging, consume three-times as much fuel as they would normally use if they were in ship form. So, when transporting them by air, emergency fuel tanks have to be carried so the Kansen could receive refueling during the flight, just in case they got too low and risked running out.  
  
“Of course master,” Belfast said, “It would be, quite disastrous for everyone if that happened. It's why we don't often transport Kansen this way”.  
  
“All packed commander?” Duke of York asked as she walked up to him, rigging active on her back. Her sisters King George V and Anson walking behind her, although they didn't have their rigging on.  
  
“Ah, Duke of York, King George V, Anson. Glad you could make it” Lelouch said as he turned to face the battleships “We're just getting the last of the luggage and supplies inside. York, I hope you're ready for the trip back to the Royal Islands”.  
  
“Of course I am ready, commander” Duke of York said with a smile “My luggage is being attended to, and my rigging is ready for war. I am ready to face Scharnhorst”.  
  
Lelouch nodded with a smile. Scharnhorst and her sister Gneisenau, The Ugly Sisters. The two have been harassing Royal Navy shipping for quite a long time now and had severely damaged several ships, including the carrier, Glorious. They have been quite difficult to take out. But Royal Navy intelligence has informed him that the two sisters will be separated for quite some time, and a plan to draw out Scharnhorst has already been prepared. The admiralty has asked him to be in command of the operation, as his success in both the Battle of the Denmark Strait and Pearl Harbour had impressed them. Plus they wanted the highest chance of success for this mission.  
  
It helped that he had a few tricks up his sleeves.  
  
A forklift drove by carrying a large wooden crate. Depositing it inside the transport.  
  
“I don't know why I wasn't the one selected to face Scharnhorst,” Anson said sounding slightly annoyed “What I wouldn't give to face one of the Ugly Sisters in one-on-one combat”.  
  
“Because you're part of our Azur Lane detachment,” King George V said, “You have to be stationed here to combat Sirens in the area. You know the Azur Treaty better than I do”.  
  
“I know. But it gets very boring fighting small Siren patrols all the time” Anson said “The battle of Pearl Harbor was the only real major battle I've been in months”.  
  
“It an important duty, protecting the shipping lanes of the Pacific,” Lelouch said “A lot of these islands are dependent on sea trade to survive. It may not look like much, but each Siren sunk means one more convoy that can reach its destination. It's tedious yes, but it's far more important than fighting another Kansen”.  
  
“See sister. This post may not look like it, but you're playing a far more important role than Duke of York is” George added.  
  
Anson lowered her head “Of course, sisters”.  
  
It was strange, seeing Anson act like this. Cornelia would never have acted like this. But then again, this wasn't Cornelia, just a Kansen who just so happened to look and sound like her. Ok so there were a few similarities with their personality, there was an equal number of differences as well.  
  
“Commander, it's time for us to board the plane,” Belfast said.  
  
“Of course,” Lelouch said, “Well ladies, I will-”.  
  
“Wait for me!” a female voice shouted loudly. They all turned to see Cleveland running towards them, with her rigging active and carrying two large suitcases.  
  
“What the fuck is she doing here?” George wondered as the light cruiser rushed up to them  
  
“Pant*... *Pant*... Sorry, I'm late!” Cleveland panted as she reached them “Just Needed to say goodbye to Helena and my sisters. I've got twenty-six of them, and it's not easy to leave when you've got all of them trying to hug you”.  
  
“What are you even doing here Cleveland?” Lelouch asked.  
  
“Oh, Ranger sent me” Cleveland replied “She can't exactly leave here at the moment, so she appointed me as your physical education teacher until you return to Azur Main”.  
  
“What!” Lelouch said sounding rather surprised. This was not what he had planned. This was supposed to be an opportunity to get away from those lessons, not have someone come with him to act as a substitute teacher. But, he could use this to his advantage. She had her rigging with her, and it wouldn't take too much to convince the Admiralty to include her in the operation. The added firepower she could offer him would greatly improve his chances at sinking Scharnhorst. She was also a light cruiser, which meant she had anti-submarine gear equipped. That will be very useful in detecting those pesky Ironblood submarines before come in and recover his targets before he can sink them.  
  
Still didn't make him feel any better about having to still partake in exercise classes.  
  
He sighed “I'm not getting out of this, aren't I?”.  
  
“I'm afraid not” Cleveland replied “Ranger's orders are to get you into shape, no matter the cost. Anyway, I'll be seeing you aboard the plane, sir,” she said before she walked towards the plane.  
  
Lelouch sighed as he turned and followed her “Come along you two, we're got a plane to catch”.  
  
Both Belfast and Duke of York nodded before they followed him onboard the plane. York's two sisters, George and Anson, waved them off as they boarded the plane.  
  
The aircraft took off fifteen minutes later, its powerful engine's sending it soaring into the sky. Its destination, the Royal Islands of England.


	21. Chapter 21

Navy air station HMS Norrington.  
  
Lelouch walked out of the landed plane, followed out by the rest of the Kansne who were onboard. The air station wasn't a large base, only really designed to land aircraft the size of the Clipper that flew him here. It was by the sea, with an attached port. Giving the kansen a place to deposit their ships after the flight.  
  
“We should deposit our ships by the port as soon as possible” Belfast said.  
  
“Agreed. You girls deposit your ships” Lelouch said “I'll wait here for you to get back”.  
  
“As you wish, master” Sheffield said before the Kansen made their way towards the port, leaving Lelouch behind by the plane.  
  
As he waited for the Kansen to return, he watched the plane's crew disembark. All of whom were Manjuu. He had no idea how the little guys could fly a plane, let alone reach all the controls. But he decided that it was safer that he didn't know.  
  
Before the plane had landed, he was on a call with Queen Elizabeth, who was not happy with how Owen Melendez was running things. She had a massive list of complaints about the guy, which included confiscating all of the tea on base, banned the royal maids from the kitchen, putting everyone on double patrols, tried to get all the wounded and sick people in the Azur Academy evicted, banned all games on-site, and, worst of all, wanted to permanently get rid of the USS Arizona Memorial and replace it with a statue of himself. And that was just a few of the things he had done to piss everyone off in the eleven or so hours that he had been in command.  
  
Lelouch had little confidence that the ALOC will allow him to maintain the position of temporal commander of the Azur Lane for the full three weeks.  
  
“Lelouch,” the voice of Thunder child said loudly. He turned just to catch the torpedo ram jumping up to him and tackle him to the ground with a hug “It's so good to see you again” she said happily.  
  
“Wow there, Thunder Child,” Lelouch said as he pried the young girl off of him “You really shouldn't be ramming into people like that,” he remarked as he stood up.  
  
“Sorry about that” Thunder child said “I am a torpedo ram after all, so I kind of have a tendency to accidentally ram people”.  
  
“That's ok. You're just doing what comes naturally to you” Lelouch said “So, how's Hood doing?” he asked.  
  
Thunder child's smiled quickly turned into a frown “Not very well” she replied “She's in a coma and still in intensive care. We don't know if she will wake up. The repairs on her ship are complete, in fact, it's in the process of a retrofit. So when she wakes up she'll have a much stronger ship”.  
  
“Well, that's good to hear,” Lelouch said. What happened to Hood was unfortunate and completely avoidable. But a slight lapse in judgment caused her to get ammo racked and explode. He should have ordered her to fall back before she fired another salvo. But, war is always full of small mistakes that have big repercussions. He was just glad he was able to bring her back alive “I would like to be notified the moment she wakes up”.  
  
“Don't worry, I'll make sure that happens,” Thunder child said.  
  
“Good. So, what brings you here?”  
  
“Ah. Well, the thing is. The Ironblood have been real bastards lately and, just a few hours ago, bombed more than half of the Royal Navy's command ships with navy bombers. So I'm reprising my role as your command ship”.  
  
Well, that was just typical. His 'superiors' promised him a proper command ship for this operation, and once again they haven't provided him with what he requested. But, the blame can't be fully placed on them, as the Ironblood were the one's who destroyed them. But still, they could have put up a better effort in protecting them.  
  
“Oh well, at least at least it's not entirely their fault this time,” Lelouch remarked.  
  
Thunder child nodded “Yeah, not much can be done about that. Oh, how's everything at Azur Main going?” she asked.  
  
“Not well by the sounds of it. My 'rival', Owen Melendez, is acting like he has control over everything now that he's the temporal commander for three weeks. He's already angered both the Eagle Union and Royal Navy Kansen on-site, not to mention a lot of base personal and several people from the ALCO”.  
  
“Oh, he should not be doing that. You do not piss off the ALOC. Those guys have the power to fire the commander of the Azur Lane. I do not see him lasting very long in that job. So, when are we meeting up with convoy JW 55B?” she asked.  
  
“Well, if everything goes as planned, we should be leaving sometime tomorrow morning to meet up with them,” Lelouch said with a smile “Oh, and is the package I requested to be sent on board the transport fleet?” he asked as a forklift drove by carrying a large wooden crate it had picked up from the plane.  
  
“Well, yes. But I must ask, why did you request that we send the Northern Parliament one-million units of main fleet combat experience on top of the one-million that we're already giving them? I know they need it to train their Kansen, but isn't that a bit too much for them”.  
  
“I know it is. But their fighting both the Sirens and the Ironblood. They need all the help they can get right now, so a little extra in the form of a gift can't help”.  
  
“We're back commander,” Cleveland said as she, Belfast, Hermione, Sheffield, and Duke of York returned from depositing their ships.  
  
“Hey guys,” Thunder child said with a smile “Ur, whys Cleveland here?”.  
  
“Well, Queen Elizabeth wanted to get Lelouch into shape, considering how physically unfit he is” Cleveland replied “She had Ranger add him to the physical education course. But, she can't exactly leave Azur Main at the moment, so she sent me, Cleveland, to be his physical education teacher until he returns to Azur Main”.  
  
“Oh, I was wondering when queeny was going to try and get some more meat on those skinny bones of yours,” Thunder Child said as she poked Lelouch's arm.  
  
“Hay, I am not skinny,” Lelouch said as he pushed the hand away “Well, not that skinny anyway”.  
  
“Queen Elizabeth is able to outrun you, and she sits on a throne all day,” Cleveland remarked “Illustrious can outrun you. Hell, even her sister Formidable can outrun you, and they wear dresses. I swear, if you can't run a full lap of the running course without stopping by the time we get back, I will force you to wear one of her dresses until you can”.  
  
“Ur, Cleveland. I see multiple problems with that statement right there” Sheffield said, “The main problem being that none of Formidable's dresses will even fit him”.  
  
Lelouch sighed a silent sigh of relief. He did not want to dress up as a girl again. He did that far too much of that at Ashford Academy, and he really didn't want to do that here, not when a lot of people said that he looked good in a dress.  
  
“Oh that shouldn't be much of a problem,” Belfast said with a smile and dashing his hopes in an instant “Colossus has his measurements, so she should be able to make a dress that could fit him”.  
  
“Belfast” Lelouch said sounding rather embarrassed “Please don't help Cleveland in this. I've already got enough to worry about already with the upcoming operation to take out Scharnhorst. I could really do without the added stress of running the risk of wearing a dress”.  
  
“Well, it should be enough to make you exercise more in your free time,” Sheffield remarked “Anyway, we should be gathering our luggage. Can't start the operation without it,” she said before she and the other two maids boarded the walked over to the planes cargo area to take out everyone's luggage.  
  
“Looks like thou won't be able to get out of this easily, commander” Duke of York said with a smile.  
  
Lelouch sighed, he was really starting to regret skipping out all those PE lessons in favour of gambling or beating those annoying aristocrats at chess.  
  
At least things should be smooth sailing from here on out.

  


Hamburg Navy base. Germany.  
  
Bismarck hobbled into the command centre, using a walking stick to help her stand. She had only been cleared from the hospital a few days ago, and walking was still rather difficult for her. But, at least she was up and about.  
“Can someone please explain to me why I was called here?” she asked as she hobbled over to the central ops table, with Roon, Prinz Eugen, and Königsberg standing around it.  
  
The ops table itself was a highly advanced one, with a large screen on it showing a map of Europe with the IRL locations of all Ironblood navy assets. Allies included.  
  
“Kommandantin,” The three Kansen said as they stood at attention.  
  
“Sorry for requesting your presence lord Bismarck, but something's just come up,” Königsberg said “We're identified the man who was in command of the fleet that almost sunk you”.  
  
Bismarck's eyes widened at the news “You have!” she said sounding surprised “Who is he?” she asked.  
  
Königsberg pressed a button on the side of the ops table, and several pictures appeared on the screen, all of which had the same person as the focus. A young man, only looking about nineteen. With raven hair, deep purple eyes, and wearing a royal navy commanders uniform that looked a size too big for him.  
  
She felt something strange when she focused on the portrait image of him. She couldn't tell what the feeling was, but there was defiantly something up with her. She felt her face heat up, her heart skipping a beat, an odd sensation forming inside her. What was happening to her?  
  
“Oh my” Prinz Eugen remarked as she looked at the pictures “The Royals clearly got lucky with this one,” she said with a smile “A good looker and a tactical genius”  
  
“Tactical genius indeed. One of our spies recovered his service record” Königsberg said “His name is Lelouch Lamperouge. He was a member of the British merchant navy before his ship was sunk. He was then recovered by a Royal Navy patrol fleet escorting the previous command of the Azur Lane to London. A few days later, the fleet was attacked by the Siren Tester. Commander Gaunt was killed in the attack, and Lelouch took command of the fleet, resulting in the successful defeat of the Siren. He was then sent over to the Denmark strait to battle Bismarck as a sort of trial by fire, just so the Royal Navy high-command could get a better look at his command ability's”.  
  
“Wait a second” Bismarck said, snapping back to reality “I was defeated by a merchant seaman!?”.  
  
“A merchant seaman who went on the command the successful defence of Azur Main from a massive Siren fleet,” Königsberg said “He is the most dangerous command the Royal Navy has at the moment. And, not only is he's back in the Royal Islands after spending three weak's as the temporal command of the Azur Lane, but we also have no idea what upcoming Royal Navy operation he'll be taking part it”.  
  
“So we know he's in the UK. But we don't know where he's going to next” Eugen said “Any idea where he'll be next? As much as I like the look of him, I will have to pay him back for that torpedo that disabled my propellers”.  
  
“Not too much I hope,” Roon said, scratching a finger over one of the images of Lelouch “I wouldn't want my crushing of him to be too quick. I want to savour my battle against him,” she said sinisterly as she once more scratched a finger over the same image.  
  
“You do know that the repair cost for that screen is coming straight out of your wages,” Bismarck said, looking rather annoyed.  
  
“I know,” Roon said with a smile before she walked towards the door, stopping just in front of it “Lord Bismarck. I request permission to request whatever Ironblood assets I need to complete the mission you gave me”.  
  
“What. Why?” Bismarck asked sounding rather confused.  
  
“Because I know where he's going too next,” Roon said as she turned around “He's going after Scharnhorst”.  
  
“Scharnhorst, but she's in Norway,” Bismarck said.  
  
“So is your sister,” Roon said, and Bismarck's chest tightened “If the Royal Navy succeed in taking out Scharnhorst, there would be very little we can do to prevent them from striking your sister Tirpitz,” she said, “Now it possible to prevent this, but I will need some help too. That is why I'm asking for permission to request whatever assistance I need to complete this mission”.  
  
“You'll get it,” Bismarck said. This was her sister's life on the line, and she wasn't going to sit back and do nothing whilst someone tried to sink her. She would have gone to help her herself, but she was in no condition to travel, and her ship was still being repaired.  
  
Speaking of repairs.  
  
“Königsberg, what's the status of my ships repairs?” the battleship asked.  
  
“They're going along well” Königsberg replied “It will still be quite a while before it will be seaworthy again, but we are making progress”.  
  
“Good,” Bismarck said, “I would like my ship to be retrofitted”.  
  
“Retrofitted?” Eugen said sounding unsurprised “Are you sure that's a good idea. It would be quite an expensive process”.  
  
“Not if we do it during the repairs” Königsberg interrupted “It will make the repairs more expensive, but will significantly cut down on the costs of the retrofit. All we will need to do is just replace all the things we need to upgrade with better equipment. It'll be cheaper than just repairing the ship, then doing the retrofit”.  
  
“Exactly. That's why I want it done now” Bismarck said “I want to be stronger when I run into Lelouch again. I will not be caught off guard by him again” she said. It didn't matter if this would extend the amount of time she would be out of action for, she will become stronger. She will not let this embarrassing defeat stain her career. She will make Lelouch pay for crippling her, and Roon will be her chariot of vengeance. Let's see how he handles her.


	22. Chapter 22

Murmansk, Arctic Circle - Northern Parliament Territory  
  
“It is my pleasure to inform you that we've successfully completed the first part of Her Majesty's supply delivery” Belfast reported with a polite bow. Lelouch stood next to her, wearing a thick winter coat over his new uniform. A warm mug of hot chocolate in his hand. He was grateful that the Royal Navy saw fit to attach boiling vessel's to their Kansne's rigging, allowing them to brew a warm cup of tea, or in this case, some hot chocolate, whenever they needed too.  
  
“The second convoy is expected to arrive later this day, and the third should arrive early tomorrow morning. Please make the necessary preparations for their arrival” The light cruiser added.  
  
“We greatly appreciate your support. These supplies will surely be a great help in our battle against the Crimson Axis” the Northern Parliament Kansen, Avrora, said with a friendly smile. She spoke with a light Russian accent, and, despite what he had heard from the Admiralty, seemed rather friendly “Although I must ask, why is there a third convoy? The supplies we paid for only needed two convoys. Was there a miscalculation?” she asked sounding slightly confused.  
  
“Actually, that was my doing” Lelouch replied “I convinced Royal Navy high-command and Queen Elizabeth to send you some additional supplies. Seeing that you are holding back both the Sirens in Antarctica and the Ironblood ground forces at the same time. I thought it would be beneficial for all of us if we gave you some additional resources free of charge” he said with a smile “It would be disastrous if the Sirens were to break out of the Antarctic circle now, what with the Azur Lane considerably weakened and us fighting amongst ourselves”.  
  
The confused look of Avrora's face quickly turned into a large smile “Why thank you, I am most grateful for your generosity. I will inform my comrades of most gracious gift” she said “In the meantime, please inform Her Majesty and Royal Navy High-command that they have our gratitude and our blessings. God Save the Queen” she said.  
  
“Certainly. We are eagerly awaiting your future participation in the war. God Save the Queen!” Belfast responded.  
  
Avrora nodded, and with that, she turned and walked away.  
  
“Thank goodness... We've finally finished our last convoy mission... Now we can go home...” Norfolk said nervously, looking like the cold was affecting her. Being a Kansen, they had inbuilt heating units, allowing them to withstand cold weather far better then he could “Just the thought of getting to drink Belfast's tea again is helping me warm up inside~!” she said with a smile.  
  
“We cannot let our guard down just yet. We may still encounter danger on our way back” Belfast warned “We have yet to run into Scharnhorst, and there is still a significant Siren presence in these waters”.  
  
Lelouch nodded. They had encountered several Siren patrols on their way here, yet there was no sign of their primary target, Scharnhorst. Was she aware of their plan and had fallen back, or was she still out there, waiting for the right moment to strike? Either way, he wasn't heading back until she was sunk below the waves.  
  
He noticed that Sheffield had been rather quiet for some time now “You ok Sheffield?” he asked “You haven't spoken much”.  
  
Sheffield didn't look like she was paying attention, her focus remained on Avrora as she walked away “That girl, Avrora... her smile didn't seem sincere to me” the light cruiser remarked “I don't believe we should trust the Northern Parliament”.  
  
“You're overthinking the matter. We have formed an alliance with them so we have every reason to mutually trust one another” Belfast said politely “Do you not agree that it is our duty as Royal Maids to have faith in Her Majesty's and the Commander's judgement?” she asked with a smile.  
  
Sheffield remained quiet for a few moments “... Let's hope I'm simply being paranoid” she said before she turned and walked back to her ship.  
  
“Well then, according to our intel, there is a chance that we will encounter moderate Siren opposition on our way home, therefore I urge everyone to remain vigilant!” Belfast said.  
  
“Agreed,” Lelouch said before he turned towards the docked HMS Thunder Child “All Kansen, report to your ships and prepare to set sail!” he ordered, getting a 'yes sir' from the Kansen under his command. He then boarded the ship and entered it.  
  
It was a lot warmer inside, and there were several Manjuu rushing about and preforming important tasks. He quickly made his way to the bridge, where Thunder Child herself and Cleveland were waiting for him. The later of which currently had their rigging on.  
  
“Commander, we've just received a report from the second fleet” Thunder Child reported as he walked onto the ship's bridge “We have a shark on the hook. Scharnhorst has taken the bait and is approaching the second convoy”.  
  
“Good, I was wondering when she was going to show herself,” Lelouch said as he walked over to the ship's wheel. It was useless to turn it, as Thunder Child had complete control over the ship. The wheel would only move when the Kansen wanted it to move “Inform the fleet that our prey has entered our sights, and all that's left for us to do is reel her in”.  
  
“Of course sir, I will inform the fleet now,” Thunder Child said before she walked over to the comm systems and turned them on “Alright lady's, get your fishing gear out as we've got ourselves a shark to catch. Scharnhorst has been spotted and we're moving in to remove her from the playing field once and for all. God Save the Queen” she said, waiting for the traditional response before ending the call.  
  
“I think the power of being your command ship might be getting to her,” Cleveland remarked as the ship started moving “Your sure this plan will work commander? You have used this on the Ironblood before, they will be expecting it”.  
  
“Don't worry, I've read everything the Royal Navy has on Scharnhorst” Lelouch said “She will not see this coming until it's too late to retreat. Still I find the nickname 'The Ugly sisters' to be rather insulting to them, seeing that their anything but ugly”.  
  
“It was humans who gave them that nickname. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few more 'colourful' insulting nicknames for us out there” Cleveland said “There are a lot of people out there who don't like us. I don't see why they hate us, we're the only one's who can fight the Sirens effectively”.  
  
“Humans will always find a reason to hate something, even if the reason for their hate is something insignificant,” Lelouch said “Hate is something that will always be there. No matter what you try to do, whether you make look like a better person or try to direct their hate towards another, there will always be those who hate you”.  
  
“Sounds like you have a lot of experience with hate,” Cleveland remarked.  
  
“You can say that I'm good at manipulating it,” Lelouch said with a smile.

  


Barents Sea, Two hours later.  
  
“We meet again, my Royal adversaries. Or should I call you a royal pain in my ass?” Scharnhorst taunted as the Royal Navy Kansen formed up in front of her, at a distance that is. Thankfully they still heard her thanks to her talking to them over comms.  
  
“I am Belfast, chief of the Royal Maids. The pleasure is all mine” the lead ship of the escort fleet said with a polite bow “Had it not been for your fleet's sudden visit, I could have been in Scapa Flow by now, brewing the afternoon tea for the young mistress...” she said with what looked like an irritated smile “If you'll pardon my request, would you kindly scuttle yourself to make this easier for all parties involved?”.  
  
“Just as full of yourselves as ever, huh... I knew this battle would come one day” Scharnhorst said as she examined the fleet, rather surprised that Thunder Child was not only with them, but had yet to activate her rigging “Good timing, too! My cannons have been aching for some target practice to warm up in this freezing weather!” she said as she readied her guns and aimed them at the Royal Navy fleet “En garde, you pompous, tea-swigging bastards-” she said before a full barrage of HE shells impacted the water around her, taking out her radar in the process “What the?! My radars been hit...?! Who did that?! Who the hell did that?! Who's the slimy little crumpet-munching island ape bastard out there who just signed her own death warrant?!”.  
  
“That would be me,” a calm voice said over the comms. It was male and sounded young.  
  
Scharnhorst's eyes quickly locked on to the source of the transmission, Thunder Child's ship. She tensed up when she saw two people standing on the deck of the ship. One of them was Duke of York, gun smoke still around her. Next to her was a young man, looking no older than nineteen, wearing a while Royal Navy commanders uniform, and a pair of ear-defenders over his ears. He had a pair of binoculars in one hand, and a handheld two-way radio in the other.  
  
“Who are you?! Identify yourself!” Scharnhorst demanded, looking directly at the boy stood next to Duke of York.  
  
“I am Lelouch Lamperouge” the boy replied with the confidence of someone who had seen battle countless times “My name may not mean anything to you, but I'm sure you are familiar with my actions. I was the commander of the fleet that sunk Bismarck, and the one who crushed the Siren fleet attacking Azur Main,” he said with a smile.  
  
Scharnhorst panicked internally. She had heard about his from a few offhand remarks and one report. Lelouch Lamperouge, the Royal Navy's ace in the hole. The was very little on the guy, and most of what they knew was only speculation. If the Ironblood knew more about him, it was obviously way above her pay grade. All she knew about him was that he was a dangerous fleet commander.  
  
This left her with only one sensible course of action “Starboard, 150 degrees! Full speed retreat! Get me the fuck out of here!” she shouted as she turned around and retreated as fast as her engine would allow her.

  


Royal Navy fleet.  
  
Lelouch watched in genuine surprise as Scharnhorst uncharacteristically retreated away from them. He had not predicted this outcome. Whilst he did anticipate that she may retreat during the battle, he did not expect her to retreat the moment he revealed himself. And the way she was retreating, it was like she was running scared, which according to the Royal Navy profile on her, wasn't something she was known to do. Quite the opposite in fact.  
  
“Something's up,” he said as he lowered his binoculars “Scharnhorst should not be retreating like that”.  
  
“Perhaps your reputation had something to do with it,” Thunder Child said as she walked up beside him “You did sink their leader after all”.  
  
Lelouch shook his head “No, it can't have been that. I've only participated in two battles. I would have to have done some extraordinary things to get a reaction like that out of someone like Scharnhorst” he said before spoke into the radio “All Kansen, pursue Scharnhorst but keep your eyes open. This may be a trap” he orders, getting a yes sir from the rest of the fleet “Duke of York, I suggest you join them. Firing your main guns whilst on the deck of another ship isn't exactly ideal”.  
  
“Of course commander,” Duke of York said with a smile before she jumped down onto the water below and joined the rest of the fleet.  
  
“You think she's planning something?” Thunder Child asked.  
  
Lelouch nodded “Someone like her would not retreat so soon into a battle. She would have stayed and fought us. That's what I predicted would happen anyway. Obviously, the Ironblood have their own plans. But she can't be retreating to safety, there are no other Ironblood ships in the area. Nor is there anywhere she could use as cover or hide in”.  
  
“Whatever it is, it can't be that bad,” Thunder Child said.  
  
“I suppose so,” Lelouch said, hoping that Scharnhorst was only trying to delay the inevitable.

  


Half an hour later.  
  
“Contact!” Sheffield reported over comms “Ironblood A400M Atlas spotted on radar”.  
  
“A what?” Lelouch asked, not familiar with that class of aircraft.  
  
“It's a military transport aircraft with tactical and strategic capabilities” Belfast replied “The Ironblood Luftwaffe has several of them, but I have no idea why they would have one all the way out here,” she remarked.  
  
Lelouch looked through his binoculars and spied the large, grey aircraft. It was flying rather low, low enough to perform a low-velocity airdrop. It was at that moment that he realised exactly why the transport aircraft was here.  
  
“Damn it” He cursed as brought his radio to his face “All Kansen, be advised. Ironblood are about to paradrop Kansen dead ahead of us. Everyone prepare for immediately enemy contacts”.  
  
“Paradrop Kansen?” Hermione said sounding rather confused “Are you sure commander. That sounds a bit far fetched”.  
  
“I'm sure” Lelouch replied as the aircraft's rear hatch opened up “I've already done the calculations on it, and it is indeed possible to paradrop Kansen” he said, just as the Atlas started to deposit its cargo, which as predicted, were several Ironblood Kansen.  
  
“My god!” Sheffield gasped as Ironblood Kansen started hitting the water, discarding their parachutes before entering into formation. Scharnhorst too turned and entered into formation with the rest of the Ironblood fleet, the fear gone from her face, replaced with a smug smirk.  
  
Lelouch quickly sifted through the Ironblood fleet, identifying ever single Kansen in the fleet, save one. She had light brown hair and brown eyes, her rigging looked like a cross between a scorpion and a shrimp, and was truly a monster. She also had gauntlets with bladed fingertips on both hands. It took him a few moments to realise exactly who he was looking at. Roon. The Ironblood's PR ship. It took him a second longer to realise that she was looked directly back at him.  
  
She smiled, it was a friendly smile. But behind that smile was a deadly predator, one capable of ripping straight through the entire fleet.  
  
Without warning she charged forwards towards him with an unnatural speed, accelerating past both friend and foe without a care. He didn't have time to order the fleet to engage her before reached HMS Thunder Child and leapt up towards him, arm outstretched towards him with a cute and psycho smile on her face.


End file.
